comerían

Comerían is a verb form of the Spanish verb comer, corresponding to the conditional simple mood for the third person plural (ellos/ellas) and, in many contexts, for ustedes as well. It expresses a hypothetical action in the present or future, often in sentences that hinge on a condition.

Formation and forms: The conditional is formed by adding the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían to the infinitive comer. Thus the full paradigm is comería, comerías, comería, comeríamos, comeríais, comerían. The form comerían specifically appears for they would eat or you all would eat.

Usage: Comerían is used to describe what would happen under certain circumstances, or to soften statements about preferences, plans, or possibilities. Examples: “Si tuvieran hambre, comerían antes de seguir.” (If they were hungry, they would eat before continuing.) “¿Qué comerían ustedes si les invito a cenar?” (What would you all eat if I invite you to dinner?)

Differences and related forms: Comerían belongs to the conditional mood; its imperfect subjunctive counterparts are forms like comerían vs comieran, the latter often appearing in subordinate clauses expressing a hypothetical past or a contrary-to-fact condition. The conditional is distinct from the conditional perfect, which uses haber + participle (habrían comido) to refer to actions that would have occurred under different conditions in the past.