wordmark

French - Conditional

The conditional is primarily the "would" mood in French. It's used to talk about what would happen, what could happen, or what you would like to happen under certain conditions.

It has two tenses: the present conditional and the past conditional.

Part 1: The Present Conditional (Le Conditionnel Présent)

This is the most common form of the conditional. It translates to "would + verb" (e.g., I would speak, he would go).

How to Form the Present Conditional

The formation is very regular and combines elements of two other tenses you may already know.

Formula: The Future Simple stem + the Imperfect endings.

The endings are: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.

Step-by-step for a regular verb like parler (to speak):

  1. Find the Future Simple stem, which is usually the infinitive: parler-
  2. Add the imperfect endings:
    • je parlerais (I would speak)
    • tu parlerais (you would speak)
    • il/elle/on parlerait (he/she would speak)
    • nous parlerions (we would speak)
    • vous parleriez (you would speak)
    • ils/elles parleraient (they would speak)

Irregular Verbs: The great news is that if you know the irregular stems for the Future Simple, you already know them for the conditional. They are exactly the same.

Verb Future/Conditional Stem Example (with je)
Être (to be) ser- je serais (I would be)
Avoir (to have) aur- j'aurais (I would have)
Aller (to go) ir- j'irais (I would go)
Faire (to do) fer- je ferais (I would do)
Pouvoir (to be able to) pourr- je pourrais (I could / would be able to)
Vouloir (to want) voudr- je voudrais (I would like)

When to Use the Present Conditional

  1. Politeness: This is one of its most common uses in daily life. It softens a request or a desire.

    • Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît. (I would like a coffee, please.) — much more polite than Je veux (I want).
    • Pourriez-vous m'aider ?* (Could you help me?) — softer than *Pouvez-vous (Can you).

  2. Advice or Suggestions: Often used with the verb devoir (to have to).

    • Tu devrais parler à ton professeur. (You should talk to your professor.)
    • Il faudrait partir maintenant. (We should leave now.)

  3. Wishes and Desires:

    • J'aimerais visiter le Japon. (I would love to visit Japan.)
    • Nous irions bien à la plage. (We would gladly go to the beach.)

  4. Hypothetical Situations ("If... then..." clauses): This is a classic grammatical structure. The conditional is used for the result of a hypothetical situation set in the present.

    • Formula: Si + Imperfect Tense (l'imparfait), ... Present Conditional
    • Si j'avais plus de temps, je lirais plus de livres. (If I had more time, I would read more books.)
    • S'il faisait beau, nous mangerions dehors. (If the weather was nice, we would eat outside.)

  5. The "Future in the Past": When reporting what someone said in the past about their future plans.

    • Direct quote: Il a dit : "Je viendrai." (He said: "I will come.")
    • Reported speech: Il a dit qu'il viendrait. (He said that he would come.)

Part 2: The Past Conditional (Le Conditionnel Passé)

This tense describes what "would have happened" in the past if things had been different. It's often used to express regrets or hypotheticals about the past.

How to Form the Past Conditional

It is a compound tense, just like the passé composé.

Formula: The Present Conditional of the auxiliary (avoir or être) + the Past Participle of the main verb.

Example with AVOIR: manger (to eat)

  • j'aurais mangé (I would have eaten)
  • il aurait mangé (he would have eaten)

Example with ÊTRE: aller (to go) (Remember participle agreement!)

  • je serais allé(e) (I would have gone)
  • elles seraient allées (they would have gone)

When to Use the Past Conditional

  1. Regrets and Reproaches: Often used with verbs like devoir (should have), pouvoir (could have), and aimer (would have liked).

    • J'aurais dû écouter. (I should have listened.)
    • Tu aurais pu me téléphoner ! (You could have called me!)

  2. Unrealized Past Situations ("If... then..." clauses about the past): Used for the result of a hypothetical situation that did not happen in the past.

    • Formula: Si + Pluperfect Tense (le plus-que-parfait), ... Past Conditional
    • Si j'avais su, je serais venu. (If I had known, I would have come.)
    • Si tu avais étudié, tu aurais réussi l'examen. (If you had studied, you would have passed the exam.)