The French Conditional Mood: Usage, Formation and Tips
In English, when we speak in the conditional mood, we use helping verbs like “would” and “could.” In French, you need to use a whole new conjugation to evoke the same meaning.
Rather than being a tense that expresses when, the French conditional is a mood that expresses events that aren’t guaranteed to occur—i.e., events that depend on certain conditions to come true (hence the term “conditional”).
Here’s a guide with a few tricks to master the French conditional.
Contents
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How to Form French Conditional Conjugations
One of the first things you need to learn when approaching the conditional is how to conjugate it. There’s a fairly easy rule and—for once—no exceptions!
To form the conditional in French, you must start with the future simple tense root. For example:
| Verb Group | Example | Conditional Form |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | parler speak | parler- |
| 2nd | choisir choose | choisir- |
| 3rd | descendre visit | descendr- |
Notice that, in all verb groups, the root is the same as the infinitive (although the final “e” is dropped in the third group).
As you might know, there are several irregular roots in the future simple. These irregular roots are the same in the conditional. You only have to add the same endings as with the imperfect—like the ones below.
| French Irregular Verbs | avoir have | savoir know | être be | faire do/make | voir see | aller go |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Je I Tu You (singular) | aurais | saurais | serais | ferais | verrais | irais |
| Il He Elle She On We | aurait | saurait | serait | ferait | verrait | irait |
| Nous We | aurions | saurions | serions | ferions | verrions | irions |
| Vous You (plural) | auriez | sauriez | seriez | feriez | verriez | iriez |
| Ils They (masculine) Elles They (feminine) | auraient | sauraient | seraient | feraient | verraient | iraient |
In all of the entries, the translation of the verbs would be “would + present form of verb”—e.g., aurais means “would have”.
And that’s it! Much simpler than you expected, right? If you know the imperfect and the future simple, you’re more than halfway there. All you need to learn now is when it’s appropriate to use the conditional.
When to Use the French Conditional
The conditional mood is generally taught by exploring si (if) clauses first. There are three si clauses in French, which is one of the times the French conditional is used. It’s the principal way to use it, which is why it’s important to master this first before moving on to other ways the conditional can be used.
Si + Present, Future Simple
The first si clause doesn’t actually use the conditional mood at all, so it’s a great place to introduce the form without having to remember all those new conjugations just yet:
Si j’ai le temps, je t’appellerai. (If I have time, I’ll call you.)
This si clause expresses certain actions taken in the future should an event occur in the present. It implies that the present action is nearly certain, thus the use of the future instead of the conditional.
Si + Imperfect, Conditional
Si j’avais le temps, je t’appellerais. (If I had time, I would call you.)
This si clause expresses actions that are based entirely on a condition. It’s implied that the action is possible but not certain.
Si + Pluperfect, Past Conditional
Si j’avais eu le temps, je t’aurais appelé. (If I’d had time, I would’ve called you.)
This si clause expresses a certain amount of regret. It’s the idea that “should have” or “could have” expresses in English.
As you can see from the above sentence, the past conditional is quite easy to form once you know the conditional and the passé composé (perfect tense). Like the pluperfect or plus-que-parfait , the past conditional is made up of the conditional of the auxiliary verb (être or avoir, depending on the lexical verb) and the past participle of the lexical verb.
Aside from the si clauses (which are the principal use of the conditional in French), you can also use the conditional to express politeness, particularly with verbs expressing desire, like the following.
| French Verbs Expressing Desire | vouloir want | désirer want | aimer love | pouvoir can |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present Simple Tense | Je veux un sandwich. I want a sandwich. | Je désire un café. I want a coffee. | J'aime le cinéma. I like the movie theater. | Peux-tu me donner un stylo ? Can you give me a pen? |
| Conditional Form | Je voudrais un sandwich. I would like a sandwich. | Je désirerais un café. I would like a coffee. | J'aimerais venir au cinéma avec vous. I would like to come to the cinema with you. | Pourrais-tu me donner un stylo ? Could you give me a pen? |
You can also use the conditional to give advice. For example, let’s use devoir (must):
Tu dois faire tes devoirs tout de suite.
(You must do your homework right now.)
Tu devrais faire tes devoirs tout de suite.
(You should do your homework right now.)
When to Not Use the French Conditional
Laid out in this way, the conditional seems quite simple, but heads up! There are a few common mistakes made when using the conditional, even by native French speakers.
Don’t use the conditional with all verbs to “be polite”
One of the key mistakes made when using the conditional in French is overusing the politeness aspect of the conditional. Some learners assume that because the conditional makes a sentence more polite, it makes all sentences more polite and therefore end up writing entire emails to their boss or teacher in the conditional.
Unfortunately, applying the conditional to any and all sentences doesn’t make them more polite. The politeness aspect of the conditional should really only be used with verbs expressing desire (e.g., vouloir, aimer, désirer) or with verbs that incite action from the other person (e.g., pouvoir or devoir).
Other than these verbs, err on the side of caution when considering the conditional to express politeness.
Don’t use the conditional immediately after si
Another mistake commonly made by French people is using the conditional on both sides of the si clause:
*Si j’aurais su, je l’aurais fait. (*If I would had known, I’d have done it.)
Instead, say Si j’avais su, je l’aurais fait. (If I had known, I would have done it.)
You should never use the conditional immediately after si. This error stems from the fact that, as with much of modern French parlance, words are being dropped from oral French. The si of the si clause is one of these, and without the si, some people overcorrect and use the conditional twice.
If you’re practicing French immersion to improve your French, you may hear this when speaking with your French friends. And if you’re attempting to sound as French as possible, you might be tempted to copy them. Resist the urge! This use of the conditional is wrong and shouldn’t become a habit, even in conversation.
How to Practice the French Conditional
Now that you know all about the French conditional, you’re ready to try it out! The key to learning about this form is to practice, practice, practice.
Speak the example sentences in this post out loud. Write them down on flashcards and practice them again in a week, then again in two weeks. Look for it in vlogs, TV series and other videos that use everyday French.
You don’t have to wait until you come across the word in native content, though. Just use FluentU to find the conditional in authentic videos.
Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the French language and culture over time. You’ll learn French as it’s actually spoken by real people.
FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews and web series, as you can see here:
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You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used.
For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:
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Already comfortable with the conditional? Then go ahead and practice it in actual conversations with French speakers. You might also want to include it anytime you’re practicing your French writing.
Once you’ve learned the proper ways to use and conjugate the conditional, you’ll be well on your way to mastering this advanced French mood.
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
