{"id":9745,"date":"2021-05-03T12:53:40","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T12:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/?p=9745"},"modified":"2021-05-03T12:53:40","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T12:53:40","slug":"the-conditional-in-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/the-conditional-in-french\/","title":{"rendered":"The conditional in French"},"content":{"rendered":"

Conditional in French<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\n

INDEX OF CONTENTS<\/p>\n

    \n
  • General rule<\/li>\n
  • When it’s used?<\/li>\n
  • The conditional is also used in French<\/li>\n
  • How to conjugate French verbs in the conditional?<\/li>\n
  • Use with “if” (hypothesis) + time agreement<\/li>\n
  • Past conditional<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n

    The conditional can be used as a tense or as a mode<\/strong>\u00a0.\u00a0In the first case, it allows to express the future in the past.\u00a0In the second case, it expresses the contingency, the imaginary (a future action whose performance is not certain because it is subject to a condition).<\/p>\n

    Learn the rules for using and conjugating the conditional in French\u00a0<\/strong>thanks to our simple and clear explanations\u00a0accompanied by examples and practice its correct use with our exercises!\u00a0It will be very useful if you take an\u00a0official exam\u00a0!<\/p>\n

    General rule<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Radical du futur simple + terminaisons de l’imparfait<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
    \n

    Parler (1st group)<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

    		\n

    Finir (2nd group)<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

    		\n

    Dire (3rd group)<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

    Je parlerais<\/em><\/p>\n

    I would speak<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Tu parlerais<\/em><\/p>\n

    You would speak<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Il \/ Elle parlerait<\/em><\/p>\n

    He \/ she would speak<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Nous parlerions<\/em><\/p>\n

    We would talk<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Vous parleriez<\/em><\/p>\n

    you would talk<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Ils \/ Elles parleraient<\/em><\/p>\n

    They would talk<\/p>\n

     <\/td>\n

    		Je finirais<\/em><\/p>\n

    I would finish<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Tu will finish<\/em><\/p>\n

    You would end<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Il \/ Elle finirait<\/em><\/p>\n

    He \/ she would end<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Nous finirions<\/em><\/p>\n

    We would end<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Vous finiriez<\/em><\/p>\n

    You would finish<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Ils \/ Elles finiraient<\/em><\/p>\n

    They \/ they would finish<\/td>\n

    		Je dirais<\/em><\/p>\n

    I would say<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    u dirais<\/em><\/p>\n

    you would say<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Il \/ Elle dirait<\/em><\/p>\n

    He \/ she would say<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Nous dirions<\/em><\/p>\n

    We would say<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Vous diriez<\/em><\/p>\n

    You would say<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Ils \/ Elles diraient<\/em><\/p>\n

    They would say<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    When it’s used?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    The conditional form is what we use when we say things like ‘I would like to\u2026.\u00a0“Or” It could be … “or” He would buy me … “.\u00a0This form serves to express many things:<\/p>\n

    Courtesy (La politesse):<\/strong><\/h3>\n
      \n
    • Je voudrais vous parler.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      I would like to talk to you.<\/p>\n

      I wish (A souhait):<\/strong><\/h3>\n
        \n
      • \u00a0<\/strong>J’aimerais faire le tour du monde.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        I would like to travel the world.<\/p>\n

        Probability (Une probabilit\u00e9):<\/strong><\/h3>\n
          \n
        • A cause des gr\u00e8ves, le train pourrait avoir du retard.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Due to the strikes, the train could be late.<\/p>\n

          A complaint or protest (Une protest):<\/strong><\/h3>\n
            \n
          • Tu\u00a0pourrais faire attention!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            You should be careful!<\/p>\n

            A future in the past:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
              \n
            • \u00a0<\/strong>Il m’a dit qu’il ne viendrait pas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              He told me he would not come.<\/p>\n

              An event subject to a condition or hypothesis:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
                \n
              • Si j\u2019avais beaucoup d’argent, je m’ach\u00e8terais une Ferrari.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                If I had a lot of money, I would buy a Ferrari.<\/p>\n

                A fiction (Une fiction):<\/strong><\/h3>\n
                  \n
                • Moi, je serais la reine, et toi, tu serais le roi.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                  I would be the queen and you the king.<\/p>\n

                  The\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0conditional is\u00a0<\/strong>also\u00a0<\/b>used in French<\/strong><\/h2>\n

                  \u00a0<\/strong>As an\u00a0expression of a wish, possibility or hypothesis in the present or future<\/strong>\u00a0(present conditional) and in the past (past conditional).<\/p>\n

                  Example:<\/p>\n

                    \n
                  • Michel aimerait \u00eatre in holidays.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                    Michel would like to be on vacation.<\/p>\n

                    The conditional tense expresses the future in the past.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

                    Example:<\/p>\n

                      \n
                    • Michel a pens\u00e9 qu\u2019il pouvait partir en voyage.<\/em>.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                      Michel thought he could go on a trip.<\/p>\n

                      Use in hypothetical sentences.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

                      Example:<\/p>\n

                        \n
                      • Si vous alliez aux Cara\u00efbes, vous pourriez aller \u00e0 la plage tous les jours.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                        If you went to the Caribbean, you could go to the beach every day.<\/p>\n

                        Polite formula in a questioning way.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

                        Example:<\/p>\n

                          \n
                        • Michel, pourriez-vous venir au conseil?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                          Michel, could you come to the board?<\/p>\n

                          How to conjugate French verbs in the conditional?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

                          The present conditional is formed from the future radical to which\u00a0we add the imperfect endings.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
                          \n

                          Personne<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

                          		\n

                          Groupe en -er<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

                          		\n

                          Groupe en -ir<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

                          		\n

                          Groupe en -re<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

                          1e personne du singulier<\/td>\nj\u2019aimerais<\/td>\nje finirais<\/td>\nje vendrais<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                          2e personne du singulier<\/td>\ntu aimerais<\/td>\ntu finirais<\/td>\ntu vendrais<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                          3e personne du singulier<\/td>\nil\/elle\/on aimerait<\/td>\nil\/elle\/on finirait<\/td>\nil\/elle\/on vendrait<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                          1re personne du pluriel<\/td>\nnous aimerions<\/td>\nnous finirions<\/td>\nnous vendrions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                          2e personne du pluriel<\/td>\nvous aimeriez<\/td>\nvous finiriez<\/td>\nvous vendriez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                          3e personne du pluriel<\/td>\nils\/elles aimeraient<\/td>\nils\/elles finiraient<\/td>\nils\/elles vendraien<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

                          Use with “if” (hypothesis) + time agreement<\/strong>\u00a0.<\/h2>\n

                          In certain situations,\u00a0the conditional is imposed by the principle of time agreement<\/strong>\u00a0, in particular, it is found in the building with “if” in the subordinate clause.<\/p>\n

                          Example:<\/em><\/p>\n

                            \n
                          • si tu travaillais, tu obtiendrais de bons r\u00e9sultats.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                            if it worked, it would get good results.<\/em><\/p>\n

                            If the verb of the subordinate that expresses a hypothesis and introduced by “if” is imperfect, the verb of the principal must necessarily be in the present conditional.<\/p>\n

                            Conditional or future?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

                            In some situations, it\u00a0is difficult to determine if the verb is in the future or in the conditional<\/strong>\u00a0.\u00a0This is particularly the case with the first person singular.\u00a0In fact, in this form, the conditional and the future are pronounced the same way.<\/p>\n

                            Example:\u00a0futur: j’aimerai, conditionnel: j’aimerais.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0The only difference is in the writing, the pronunciation is the same.<\/p>\n

                            To determine the difference<\/strong>\u00a0, it is necessary to establish whether the action is future or hypothetical.<\/p>\n

                            For a native French speaker, it is also possible to switch people to determine which one is correct.\u00a0Example:\u00a0futur: tu aimeras, conditionnel: tu<\/em>\u00a0future\u00a0aimerais<\/em>\u00a0: you will like it, conditional: you will like it.<\/p>\n

                            Past conditional<\/strong><\/h2>\n

                            Etre \/ avoir in present conditional + participle<\/p>\n

                            Example of the verb \u201cmanger\u201d (to eat)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
                            \n

                            Conjugation<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/td>\n

                            		\n

                            Meaning<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

                            j’aurais mang\u00e9<\/td>\nI would have eaten<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                            tu aurais mang\u00e9<\/td>\nyou would have eaten<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                            il aurait mang\u00e9<\/td>\nhe would have eaten<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                            nous aurions mang\u00e9<\/td>\nwe will have eaten<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                            vous auriez mang\u00e9<\/td>\nyou will have eaten<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                            ils auraient mang\u00e9<\/td>\nthey would have eaten<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

                            Concordance<\/strong>\u00a0: verbs that use the auxiliary \u201c\u00eatre\u201d have to adapt the participle in gender and number to the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
                            \n

                            Conjugation<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n

                            		\n

                            Meaning<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

                            il serais all\u00e9<\/td>\nhe would have gone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                            elle serais all\u00e9e<\/td>\nshe would have gone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                            ils seraient all\u00e9s<\/td>\nthey would have gone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
                            elles seraient all\u00e9es<\/td>\nthey would have gone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n
                            \n \n
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                            <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
                            \n \n\n
                            <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
                            \n \n\n
                            <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
                            \n \n\n
                            <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
                            \n \n\n
                            <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
                            \n
                            \n \n\n
                            <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
                            \n \n\n
                            <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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                            <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
                            \n \n\n
                            <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
                            \n \n\n
                            <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\n
                            \n \u00a1D\u00e9janos unas estrellitas si te ha gustado el post!<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                            Conditional in French INDEX OF CONTENTS General rule When it’s used? The conditional is also used in French How to...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2637,"featured_media":10340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8092,8093,8072],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-level-b1-levels","category-level-b2-levels","category-french","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9745"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10342,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9745\/revisions\/10342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}