French · Chapter 22 · Lesson 15 · Grammar primer
Conditional sentences (si clauses)
The three si types: si + present -> present/future (si tu veux, je viens); si + imperfect -> conditional (si j'avais le temps, je viendrais); si + pluperfect -> past conditional (si j'avais su, je serais venu). Never a future or conditional directly after si.
The short version
Never a future or conditional after si
The tenses come in fixed pairs and the si clause always takes the plainer one: present, imperfect or pluperfect. Si j'avais le temps, je viendrais. Si j'aurais and si je serai are both wrong, so if you catch yourself writing an -rai or -rais ending straight after si, stop.
Si j'avais le temps, je viendrais.
The si that means whether breaks the rule
When si introduces an indirect question and means whether, it is a different word and the golden rule does not apply. Je ne sais pas si elle viendra takes a future quite happily. The test: swap if for whether in the English, and if the meaning survives, the future is fine.
Je ne sais pas si elle viendra.
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