Conditional sentences (si clauses)

A si clause is an if sentence, and French pairs its tenses in three fixed types. Choose how real the condition is, and both tenses are decided.

The glosses: If it rains, I will stay. If I had time, I would come. If I had known, I would have come.

Each step along the scale takes the condition one notch further from reality. None of the three puts a future or a conditional after si.

Type 1: real and likely

The condition could really happen. After si, the present; in the result, the present, the future or a command.

Si shortens to s' before il and ils only:

1234

1. 1s'il fait chaud
2. 2s'il pleut
3. 3s'il neige
4. 4s'il y a du vent

If it is hot, if it rains, if it snows, if it is windy: si becomes s' before il.

• S'il fait beau, nous irons à la plage. - If it is nice, we will go to the beach.
• Si elle vient, je reste. - If she comes, I'm staying. (no elision before elle)
• Si on part maintenant, on arrivera à l'heure. - If we leave now, we will arrive on time. (none before on)

The golden rule: no future or conditional after si

English sometimes slips a will or a would into its if-clause. Standard French does not: the future and the conditional live in the result.

If you catch yourself putting a future or a conditional (je serai, j'aurais) straight after si, stop. The one exception is the si that means whether, further down.

The halves can swap places, and the tenses stay put. Only the comma goes:

• Je viendrais si j'avais le temps. - I would come if I had time.