French 5.3. The Conditional Tenses

Level I 1. Alphabet & Pronunciation 1.1. Vowels 1.2. Consonants 1.3. Silent Final Consonants 1.4. Liaison 1.5. Syllable Stress 2. Similarities to English 2.1. Negation 2.2. Punctuation & Written Accents 3. Gender & Plural 5. Subject Personal Pronouns 4. Cardinal Numbers 6. Present Indicative Tense I 7. The Articles 8. Interrogative Pronouns & Adjectives Level II 1. Prepositions 2. Present Indicative Tense II – Irregular Verbs 3. Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns 4. Demonstrative Pronouns & Adjectives 5. Object Personal Pronouns 6. Relative Pronouns 7. Ordinal Numbers I 8. Basic Phrases 9. Times & Seasons Level III 1. Compound Past 2. The Verb “To Know” 3. Indefinite Adjectives & Pronouns 4. Conjunctions 5. Simple Future Tense 6. Telling Time & Describing Weather 7. Present Participle & Gerund 8. Adverbs 8.1. Other Adverbs & Adverbial Phrases 9. Directions Level IV 1. Degrees of Comparison: Comparatives & Superlatives 2. Partitives 3. Reflexive Pronouns & Verbs 4. Expressions Using “Avoir” & “Faire” 5. Present Subjunctive Tense I 6. Impersonal Verbs & Expressions 7. Future Perfect Tense 8. Interjections Level V 1. The Pronouns “Y” & “En” 2. Imperative Mood & Giving Commands 3. The Conditional Tenses 4. Present Subjunctive Tense II 5. Perfect Subjunctive Tense 6. Imperfect Indicative Tense 7. Time Expressions: “En train de,” “Venir de,” “Depuis,” & “Ça fait” Level VI 1. The Past Infinitive 2. Simple Past Tense 3. Pluperfect Indicative Tense 4. Idiomatic Pronominal Verbs 5. Prepositional Verbs 6. Passive Voice 7. Diminutives & Augmentatives
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The simple conditional tense is one of two conditional tenses in French, and it is similar in use to its English counterpart.

The simple conditional tense is used to describe a hypothetical situation, express wishes, give advice, or make a polite request. It is similar in its use to the simple conditional tense in English, for example, “I would do the laundry if I had time.”

Similar to the stem formation in the simple future tense, we use the infinitive as a stem and drop the final “-e” in the case of “-re” verbs. The endings are the same for the three types of verbs.

 -er ending
e.g., parler (to speak)		-ir ending
e.g., finir (to finish)		-re ending
e.g., vendre (to sell)
jeparleraisfiniraisvendrais
tuparleraisfiniraisvendrais
il/elle/onparleraitfiniraitvendrait
nousparlerionsfinirionsvendrions
vousparleriezfiniriezvendriez
ils/ellesparleraientfiniraientvendraient

Irregular Verbs

The same verbs that are irregular in the simple future tense are also irregular in the simple conditional tense and use the same stem. Here is a list of irregular verbs in the simple conditional tense:

 je/j’tuil/ellenous vousils/elles
aller
to go		iraisiraisiraitirionsirieziraient
avoir
to have		auraisauraisauraitaurionsauriezauraient
courir
to run		courraiscourraiscourraitcourrionscourriezcourraient
devenir
to become		deviendraisdeviendraisdeviendraitdeviendrionsdeviendriezdeviendraient
devoir
must		devraisdevraisdevraitdevrionsdevriezdevraient
envoyer
to send		enverraisenverraisenverraitenverrionsenverriezenverraient
être
to be		seraisseraisseraitserionsseriezseraient
faire
to do		feraisferaisferaitferionsferiezferaient
falloir
to have to		––faudrait–––
mourir
to die		mourraismourraismourraitmourrionsmourriezmourraient
pleuvoir
to rain		––pleuvrait–––
recevoir
to receive		recevraisrecevraisrecevraitrecevrionsrecevriezrecevraient
revenir
to return		reviendraisreviendraisreviendraitreviendrionsreviendriezreviendraient
savoir
to know		sauraissauraissauraitsaurionssauriezsauraient
tenir
to hold		tiendraistiendraistiendraittiendrionstiendrieztiendraient
valoir
to be worth		––vaudrait–––
venir
to come		viendraisviendraisviendraitviendrionsviendriezviendraient
voir
to see		verraisverraisverraitverrionsverriezverraient
vouloir
to want		voudraisvoudraisvoudraitvoudrionsvoudriezvoudraient

There are some verbs that undergo minor spelling changes. Here are some common examples:

 je/j’tuil/ellenous vousils/elles
employer
to hire		emploieraisemploieraisemploieraitemploierionsemploieriezemploieraient
essuyer
to wipe		essuieraisessuieraisessuieraitessuierionsessuieriezessuieraient
nettoyer
to clean		nettoieraisnettoieraisnettoieraitnettoierionsnettoierieznettoieraient
acheter
to buy		achèteraisachèteraisachèteraitachèterionsachèteriezachèteraient
appeler
to call		appelleraisappelleraisappelleraitappellerionsappelleriezappelleraient
jeter
to throw		jetteraisjetteraisjetteraitjetterionsjetteriezjetteraient

Examples

Here are some examples that use the simple conditional tense:

Je voyagerais chaque année si j’avais de l’argent.I would travel every year if I had money.
Si j’étais toi, je n’irais pas à la gym aujourd’hui.If I were you, I wouldn’t go to the gym today.
Si j’avais beaucoup d’argent, j’achèterais un palais.            If I had a lot of money, I would buy a palace.
Vous pourriez étudier plus d’heures pour l’examen.You could study more hours for the exam.
Pourriez-vous me passer le poivre?Could you pass me the pepper?
Vivrions-nous dans une petite ville?Would we live in a small city?
Ils dormiraient toute la journée s’ils n’avaient pas de travail.They would sleep all day if they didn’t have work.
Il dirait la vérité s’ils le lui demandaient.He would tell the truth if they asked him.

The Conditional Perfect: “Would/Could/Should have”

To convey the meaning of “would/could/should have …” in French, we resort to the conditional perfect tense.

  • “Would have” + past participle = “avoir” or “être” in conditional tense + past participle, for example:
Je l’aurais fait.I would have done it.
Ils auraient payé.They would have paid.
Nous serions venus.We would have come.
  • “Could have” + past participle = “avoir” or “être” in conditional tense + “pouvoir” in past participle + infinitive, for example:
J’aurais pu le faire.I could have done it.
Ils auraient pu payer.They could have paid.
Nous aurions pu venir.We could have come.
  • “Should have” + past participle = “avoir” or “être” in conditional tense + “devoir” in past participle + infinitive, for example:
J’aurais dû le faire.I should have done it.
Ils auraient dû payer.They should have paid.
Nous aurions dû venir.We should have come.

Next: Present Subjunctive Tense II

Back to: French Lessons

Other lessons in Level V:

Level V – Advanced

1.     The Pronouns “Y” & “En”

2.    Imperative Mood & Giving Commands

3.    The Conditional Tenses

4.    Present Subjunctive Tense II

5.    Past Subjunctive Tense

6.    Imperfect Indicative Tense

7.    Time Expressions: “En train de,” “Venir de,” “Depuis,” & “Ça fait”