The Conditional Duh duh DUUUUUHHHHH!

What is the conditional? The French conditional is very similar to the English conditional mood. It describes events that are not guaranteed to occur; often they are dependent on certain conditions. While the French conditional mood has a full set of conjugations, the English equivalent is just the modal verb “would” + the main verb.

The French conditional is mainly used in “if…then” statements (si clauses) to express what would happen if a condition were met. N.B. The conditional is in the result (then) part of the clause, not the clause that follows si (if). Ex. Il mangerait s’il avait faim. Si nous étudiions, nous serions plus intelligents.

Vouloir The verb vouloir is used in the conditional to express a polite request. – Je voudrais une pomme. – Je voudrais aller avec vous. However, you can’t say “si vous voudriez” to mean “if you would like” because the French conditional CAN NEVER be used after si.

Aimer The verb aimer is used to express a polite desire, sometimes one that cannot be fulfilled. J’aimerais bien le voir! J’aimerais y aller, mais je dois travailler.

Conjugation The conditional has only one set of endings for all verbs, and most of them- even those irregular in the present tense- use their infinitives as a root. Here are the most common irregular stems. NB These verbs stems should look REALLY familiar. As they are the same in the future tense. Which means THEY ALWAYS END IN R!!!!!

InfinativeConditional Stem AllerIr- AvoirAur- DevoirDevr- ÊtreSer- EnvoyerEnverr- FaireFer- PleuvoirPleuvr- PouvoirPourr- RecevoirRecevr- SavoirSaur- TenirTiendr- VenirViendr- VoirVerr- VouloirVoudr-

Conjugation Conditional Endings -ais-ions -ais-iez -ait-aient WHY DO THESE LOOK FAMILIAR?

Conditional mood in si clauses The second conditional expresses something that is contrary to present fact or unlikely to occur. Something that would happen if something else happened. Use si + imparfait (stating the condition) + conditionnel (stating what would have happened.

Formula Si + imparfait + conditional OR Conditional + si + imparfait

Examples Si j’avais le temps, je le ferais. Je le ferais si j’avais le temps. Si tu étudiais, tu réussirais à l’examen. Tu réussirais à l’examen si tu étudiais. Si elle vous voyais, elle vous aiderait. Elle vous aiderait si elle vous voyait.