French/Grammar/Tenses/Present conditional
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Usage of the conditional (present)
[edit | edit source]The conditional tense is used when:
- a hypothetical situation is described. In which case the structure "Si + l'imparfait, le conditionnel" is used.
- e.g. If I saw (or If I were to see) her, I would not recognize her. - Si je la voyais, je ne la reconnaîtrais pas.
- a polite request needs to be made:
- e.g. I would like a small salad, please. - Je voudrais (or J'aimerais) une petite salade, s'il vous plaît.
- an event that had not happened was described:
- e.g. He said Marie would come. - Il a dit que Marie viendrait.
Formation of the conditional
[edit | edit source]Conditional stems
[edit | edit source]- For (regular and irregular) -er or -ir verbs, the infinitive is the conditional stem.
- For (regular and irregular) -re verbs, the infinitive minus the final e is the conditional stem.
- Exception: verbs that are stem-changing in the present are stem-changing in the conditional also.
- Exception: certain irregular verbs (but not all) have irregular conditional stems.
- Note: in a word, the conditional stem is the same with the future one.
Stem changes
| Verb | Change from | Change to |
|---|---|---|
| -ler verbs | ler | ller |
| ier verbs | ier | ier |
| -yer verbs | yer | ier |
| verbs with an e in the penultimate syllable | e in penultimate syllable | è |
| verbs with é in the penultimate syllable | é in penultimate syllable | è |
Irregular stems
| Verb | Future stem |
|---|---|
| aller | ir- |
| avoir | aur- |
| devoir | devr- |
| envoyer | enverr- |
| être | ser- |
| faire | fer- |
| pleuvoir | pleuvr- |
| pouvoir | pourr- |
| savoir | saur- |
| venir | viendr- |
| voir | verr- |
| vouloir | voudr- |
Conditional endings
[edit | edit source]- To conjugate in the conditional, add the appropriate ending to the future stem.
| Subject | Ending | Example with parler |
|---|---|---|
| je | -ais | parlerais |
| tu | -ais | parlerais |
| il | -ait | parlerait |
| nous | -ions | parlerions |
| vous | -iez | parleriez |
| ils | -aient | parleraient |
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