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conditional

/kənˈdɪʃ.ə.nəl/adjective, noun

conditional is spelled C-O-N-D-I-T-I-O-N-A-L: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, conditional means “Limited by a condition” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in conditional?

Letters11: C-O-N-D-I-T-I-O-N-A-L
Syllables4 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.9 times per million words; the 13,127th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is conditional?

Conditional appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce conditional?

  • /kənˈdɪʃ.ə.nəl/
  • /kənˈdɪʃ.nəl/

Conditional has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-conditional.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of conditional

  • conditionall
  • conditionals plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does conditional mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Limited by a condition.

    I made my son a conditional promise: I would buy him a bike if he kept his room tidy.

  2. 2

    Stating that one sentence is true if another is true.

    "A implies B" is a conditional statement.

  3. 3

    Expressing a condition or supposition.

    a conditional word, mode, or tense

noun

  1. 1

    A conditional sentence; a statement that depends on a condition being true or false.

  2. 2

    The conditional mood.

  3. 3

    A statement that one sentence is true if another is.

    "A implies B" is a conditional.

  4. 4

    An instruction that branches depending on the truth of a condition at that point.

    if and while are conditionals in some programming languages.

  5. 5

    A condition (a limitation or restriction).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate conditional?

Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of conditional: cond, cond..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Conditional in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchconditionnel (limited by a condition)
Germanbedingt (limited by a condition), Konditional (grammar: statement), Konditionalis (grammar: mode/mood)
Portuguesecondicional (limited by a condition), futuro do pretérito (grammar: mode/mood)
Spanishcondicional (limited by a condition)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does conditional come from?

From French conditionnel, from Old French condicionel, equivalent to condition + -al.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after conditional