The conditional tense Follow the rules here and you will not go wrong when using the conditional tense

The conditional tense is used to say what would or wouldn’t happen. Example: Si j’étais riche, j’achèterais une belle maison à la campagne. If I was rich, I would buy a beautiful house in the country. S’il pleuvait, je ne sortirais pas. If it rained, I wouldn’t go out. Ma tante a dit qu’elle arriverait vers midi. My aunt said she would arrive at around midday. Grammar: The conditional tense 1

How would you translate the following sentences? S’il faisait mauvais, je ne jouerais pas au tennis. If the weather was bad, I wouldn’t play tennis. Si elle avait assez d’argent, elle achèterait une nouvelle voiture. If she had enough money, she would buy a new car. Mon père a téléphoné pour dire qu’il rentrerait en retard. My father phoned to say that he would come home late. Elle a dit qu’elle ne mangerait pas ici. She said that she wouldn’t eat here. Si j’avais mon livre, je pourrais faire mes devoirs. If I had my book, I would be able to do my homework. Grammar: The conditional tense 2

From the examples you have already seen, you may have worked out how to form the conditional tense. It is very easy to form: 1Take the stem (first part) of the future tense. 2Add the following endings: je -aisnous-ions tu -ais vous-iez il / elle / on -aitils / elles-aient Which other tense that you have already met has exactly the same endings? Answer: The imperfect tense! Grammar: The conditional tense 3

Reminder - Because you need the future tense stem to form the conditional tense, it might be a good idea to revise this! Question: How do you form the stem of regular verbs in the future tense? Answer: By using the infinitive. Example: infinitivefutureconditional manger - to eatje mangeraije mangerais Remember also that -re verbs lose the final -e in the future tense stem: attendre - to waitj’attendraij’attendrais Grammar: The conditional tense 4

Question: Which common verbs have an irregular stem in the future tense, and therefore also in the conditional tense? Answer: infinitivefutureconditional aller - to goj’irai j’irais avoir - to havej’aurai j’aurais courir - to runje courrai je courrais devoir - to have toje devrai je devrais envoyer - to sendj’enverrai j’enverrais être - to beje serai je serais faire - to make / doje ferai je ferais mourir - to dieje mourrai je mourrais pouvoir - to be able toje pourrai je pourrais recevoir - to receiveje recevrai je recevrais savoir - to know je saurai je saurais venir - to comeje viendrai je viendrais voir - to seeje verrai je verrais vouloir - to want toje voudrai je voudrais Grammar: The conditional tense 5

Look at the following regular verb which is written out in full in the conditional tense: jouer - to play jejouerais I would play tujouerais you would play il / ellejoueraithe / she would play nousjouerionswe would play vousjoueriezyou would play ils / ellesjoueraientthey would play Can you write the following three verbs out in the same way? Be careful! One is regular, one ends in -re and the other is irregular: aller - to go, vendre - to sell, finir - to finish Grammar: The conditional tense 6

aller - to go j’irais I would go tuiraisyou would go il / elleiraithe / she would go nousirionswe would go vousiriezyou would go ils/ellesiraientthey would go vendre - to sell jevendrais I would sell tuvendraisyou would sell il / ellevendraithe / she would sell nousvendrionswe would sell vousvendriezyou would sell ils/ellesvendraientthey would sell finir - to finish jefinirais I would finish tufiniraisyou would finish il / ellefiniraithe / she would finish nousfinirionswe would finish vousfiniriezyou would finish ils/ellesfiniraientthey would finish Grammar: The conditional tense 7

Ma ville idéale _____ moderne et très verte. Il y _____ beaucoup de commerces et il n’y _____ pas de chômage. Dans le centre-ville on _____ une zone piétonne très agréable avec des cafés, des restaurants et des boutiques et on _____ se promener tranquillement. Les magasins _____ très tard et les rues _____ animées. Pour limiter la pollution, il y _____ un réseau de transports très fiable et les autos _____ interdites en centre-ville. On _____ rouler facilement en vélo grâce aux pistes cyclables et il y _____ aussi un tramway. Comme distractions, on _____ aller au cinéma, aux concerts ou au théâtre sans trop dépenser de l’argent. Les habitants _____ très fiers d’y habiter. 1 serait 2 aurait 4 verrait 3 aurait 6 fermeraient 7 seraient 8 aurait 9 seraient 10 pourrait 11 aurait 12 pourrait 13 seraient être 2avoir 3avoir 4voir 5pouvoir 6fermer 7être 8avoir 9être 10pouvoir 11avoir 12pouvoir 13être 5 pourrait Menu Grammar: The conditional tense 8