French Conditional Tense (Conditionnel): Endings and Uses

The conditionnel is the French would: je voudrais, I would like. Build it from the future stem plus the imparfait endings. It does four everyday jobs, all on one screen here.

The formation comes first; each job has its own section after it.

How to form it

Take the futur simple stem and add the imparfait endings. For a regular -er or -ir verb, the stem is the whole infinitive.

• Je parlerais plus lentement. - I would speak more slowly.
• Nous finirions avant midi. - We would finish before midday.

Verbs in -re drop the final e of the infinitive first:

• Je prendrais le train. - I would take the train.
• Je dirais oui. - I would say yes.

Verbs that change their spelling in the future keep the change: j'achèterais (I would buy), j'appellerais (I would call).

Conditionnel or imparfait?

The endings are the same as the imparfait, so the stem tells the two tenses apart. Every conditionnel stem ends in r.

• Je parlais avec Paul. - I was talking to Paul.
• Je parlerais avec Paul. - I would talk to Paul.

In speech, listen for the r before the ending. A verb whose stem already ends in r doubles it in the conditionnel: je courais (I was running), je courrais (I would run).

The irregular stems

The irregular stems are exactly the future ones. Learn them once and they serve both tenses.

• Ce serait parfait. - That would be perfect.
• On irait à la mer. - We would go to the sea.
• J'aurais peur. - I would be scared.

A few rarer verbs follow the same logic:

• tenir - je tiendrais
• envoyer - j'enverrais
• courir - je courrais

Je voudrais: polite requests

The conditionnel turns a demand into a request. In a shop or a cafe, it is what people actually say.

Je veux is not wrong, just blunt: fine for what you want from life, brusque at a counter.

J'aimerais is the warmer cousin, for wishes and hopes as much as orders:

• J'aimerais apprendre le chinois. - I would love to learn Chinese.
• J'aimerais partir tôt ce soir. - I would like to leave early tonight.

12

1. 1Je voudrais un café.
2. 2J'aimerais de l'eau.

At the cafe: she says Je voudrais un café (I would like a coffee); he says J'aimerais de l'eau (I would like some water).

Tu devrais: should

The conditionnel of devoir is English should. It is softer than the present, which means must.

• Tu devrais te reposer. - You should rest.
• Vous devriez essayer. - You should try.
• On devrait partir. - We should go.

Il faudrait does the same job without a person: Il faudrait partir tôt. - We ought to leave early (literally: it would be necessary to leave early).

Si + imparfait: what would happen

For something imagined, French pairs two tenses: the imparfait after si, the conditionnel in the result.

• Si j'avais le temps, je viendrais. - If I had time, I would come.
• Si tu étais riche, tu ferais quoi ? - If you were rich, what would you do?
• Si on partait maintenant, on arriverait tôt. - If we left now, we would arrive early.

The two halves can swap round, with no comma needed: Je viendrais si j'avais le temps.

The present and past versions of the pattern are on French si clauses.

Reported speech: il a dit qu'il viendrait

When you report a future from a past point of view, the future becomes the conditionnel.

It is the same relationship as in English: will becomes would. The full set of tense shifts is on French reported speech.

Common mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. Order something tonight, out loud, with je voudrais.
2. Finish the sentence Si j'avais le temps, je... three ways.
3. Read French si clauses for if I had known.