The French Conditional and

How It Works

This learning guide is divided into different

parts with a quick summary after each topic

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WHAT IS CONDITIONAL?

In English

In French

USE OF THE CONDITIONAL

BASIC RULES IN HOW TO FORM THE CONDITIONAL

Rules for regular verbs with -er and -ir endings in the conditional

Rules for irregular verbs in the conditional

C O N D I T I O N A L

WHAT IS CONDITIONAL?

The conditional is a form of verb being used

when talking about things that could happen

under certain conditions, or those that are

not guaranteed to happen but may occur

given a certain set of circumstances.

CONDITIONAL IN ENGLISH

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In English we simply use the modal verb

would or its shortened form 'd, and then

we add the main verb after it.

Here are a couple of examples:

I would help him with his homework if he asked.

You'd be shocked if you knew.

CONDITIONAL IN FRENCH

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In French however, it is a lot more than

that. There is a whole set of different rules

for different kinds of verbs. BUT – if you

are already familiar with how to form the

FUTURE TENSE, it will be so much easier to

follow.

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USES OF THE CONDITIONAL

• In asking politely or formally, especially in public settings.

(Example: I would like a cup of coffee, please.)

• In saying what you would like or need.

(Example: I would like to take a tour of the place.)

• In making a suggestion.

(Example: I could come over and cheer you up.)

• In giving an advice to someone.

(Example: You should tell him you're sorry.)

• In playing roles, imaginary or not.

(Example: I would be the doctor and you would be the nurse.)

• In soft nagging or complaining.

(Example: You could clean your room instead of sleeping around all day.)

• In even if or in case of clauses.

(Examples: Even if he would sleep all day, he'd still get good grades.

In case of any problems, you would call me, right?)

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BASIC RULES ON HOW TO FORM THE CONDITIONAL

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• Most verbs in the conditional form follow this format: the infinitive

(used as the stem) + an ending similar to that of the endings for

the imperfect tense: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, and -aient.

• It is formed with a stem (which is basically similar to the one being

used as a future stem in FUTURE TENSES) combined with an ending

that is dependent on the subject (whether it is about je, tu, elle,

on, nous, vous, ils, or elles.)

• To put it simply, FUTURE STEM + IMPERFECT TENSE ENDING equals

a conditional form.

• There is no direct counterpart in French to the word would.

Instead, the verb ending is changed to turn it into a one-word

version of the English conditional phrase.

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Rules for Regular Verbs with -er and -ir endings

in the conditional

The rule in conjugating regular verbs to form a conditional is similar to that

of the rules for the future tense. Basically, you use the same stem for

future tense and just add the appropriate endings.

Examples:

appeler (to call) becomes appellerais, appellerais, appellerait, appellerions,

appelleriez, appelleraient

Jeter (to throw) becomes jetterais, jetterais, jetterait, jetterions, jetteriez,

jetteraient

For verbs that end in -yer, the y often becomes i when used in the future

tense.

For example:

nettoyer (to clean) becomes nettoierais, nettoierais, nettoierait,

nettoierions, nettoieriez, nettoieraient

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Rules for Irregular Verbs in the conditional

The verbs with irregular stems in the future tense are the very same

irregular verbs in conditional. So if you are already familiar with that

topic, this is way too easy for you already.

Some examples of the irregular verbs that have irregular stems in both

future and conditional are the following: avoir, être, faire, aller, devoir,

pouvoir, savoir, tenir, venir, voir, vouloir.

The verb avoir becomes aurais, aurais, aurait, aurions, auriez, auraient

The verb être becomes serais, serais, serait, serions, seriez, seraient

The verb faire becomes ferais, ferais, ferait, ferions, feriez, feraient

The verb aller becomes irais, irais, irait, irions, iriez, iraient

To say it simply, even if these verbs are irregular, they still conform to

the pattern by using the same endings as the regular verbs.

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If you are having difficulty trying to catch up

with this topic, feel free to visit the article on

FUTURE TENSE, also in this site.

Just remember to keep coming back to review

the lessons until you have thoroughly

familiarized yourself.

Enjoy!

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