The conditional is used to describe what people WOULD DO, what WOULD HAPPEN if a certain condition were to be met. It is translated by would in English. Ex: In that case, I would come. Dans ce cas-là, je viendrais.

Do not confuse the meaning of the conditional with the verb devoir (to have to).  Je devrais étudier. (I should study.)  J’étudierais. (I would study.)

Pratiquez en anglais: Change the following sentences from the present to the condtional tense. 1.I speak French. 2.She’s finishing her homework. 3.We return to the house. 4.He tells the truth. 5.You are eating a salad.

To form the conditional tense in French: FUTURE STEM + IMPERFECT ENDINGS

Regular Forms (“Group 1”) The conditional tense of regular verbs is formed by adding the following endings to the infinitive: -ais-ions -ais-iez -ait-aient

-re verbs NOTE: The final –e of –re verbs is dropped before adding the conditional endings.

Examples

Using the 3 rd person Singular Form of the Present Tense as the Conditional Stem (“Group 2”) Some verbs use the third person singular form of the present tense rather than the infinitive as the conditional stem. We will call these “Group 2.”

Group 2a- yer -YER verbs (y  i) InfinitiveJe formNous form employerJ’emploieraisemploierions ennuyerJ’ennuieraisennuierions essayerJ’essaieraisessaierions essuyerJ’essuieraisessuierions nettoyernettoieraisnettoierions payerpaieraispaierions

Group 2b- è -e  è InfinitiveJe formNous form acheterJ’achèteraisachèterions amenerJ’amèneraisamènerions enleverJ’enlèveraisenlèverions leverlèveraislèverions menermèneraismènerions peserpèseraispèserions

Group 2c- double consonant l  ll, t  tt InfinitiveJe formNous form appelerJ’appelleraisappellerions rappelerrappelleraisrappellerions jeterjetteraisjetterions

Irregulars (“Group 3”) Some verbs have completely irregular stems to which the conditional endings are then added.

Group 3- IRREGULAR FUTURE/CONDTIONAL STEMS INFINITIVEFUTURE/COND. STEM Example (je form) cueillircueillercueillerais s’asseoirassiérm’assiérais alleririrais avoirauraurais êtreserserais faireferferais savoirsaursaurais falloirfaudrfaudrais valoirvaudrvaudrais vouloirvoudrvoudrais

Group 3- IRREGULAR FUTURE/COND STEMS INFINITIVEFUTURE/COND STEM Example (je form) apercevoirapercevrapercevrais décevoirdécevrdécevrais devoirdevrdevrais pleuvoirpleuvrpleuvrais recevoirrecevrrecevrais

Group 3- IRREGULAR FUTURE/COND STEMS INFINITIVEFUTURE/COND STEM Example (je form) tenirtiendrtiendrais venirviendrviendrais courircourrcourrais mourirmourrmourrais pouvoirpourrpourrais voirverrverrais