All you need to know about french conditional in a single one presentation.

1. The French Conditional and
How It Works

2. This learning guide is divided into different
parts with a quick summary after each topic
1)
WHAT IS CONDITIONAL?
• In English
• In French
2) USE OF THE CONDITIONAL
3) BASIC RULES IN HOW TO FORM THE CONDITIONAL
• Rules for regular verbs with -er and -ir endings in the conditional
• Rules for irregular verbs in the conditional

3. C
WHAT IS CONDITIONAL?
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The conditional is a form of verb being used
when talking about things that could happen
under certain conditions, or those that are
not guaranteed to happen but may occur
given a certain set of circumstances.
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4. CONDITIONAL IN ENGLISH
In English we simply use the modal verb
would or its shortened form 'd, and then
we add the main verb after it.
Here are a couple of examples:
I would help him with his homework if he asked.
You'd be shocked if you knew.
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5. CONDITIONAL IN FRENCH
In French however, it is a lot more than
that. There is a whole set of different rules
for different kinds of verbs. BUT – if you
are already familiar with how to form the
FUTURE TENSE, it will be so much easier to
follow.
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6. USES OF THE CONDITIONAL
• In asking politely or formally, especially in public settings.
(Example: I would like a cup of coffee, please.)
• In saying what you would like or need.
(Example: I would like to take a tour of the place.)
• In making a suggestion.
(Example: I could come over and cheer you up.)
• In giving an advice to someone.
(Example: You should tell him you're sorry.)
• In playing roles, imaginary or not.
(Example: I would be the doctor and you would be the nurse.)
• In soft nagging or complaining.
(Example: You could clean your room instead of sleeping around all day.)
• In even if or in case of clauses.
(Examples: Even if he would sleep all day, he'd still get good grades.
In case of any problems, you would call me, right?)
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7. BASIC RULES ON HOW TO FORM THE CONDITIONAL
• Most verbs in the conditional form follow this format: the infinitive
(used as the stem) + an ending similar to that of the endings for
the imperfect tense: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, and -aient.
• It is formed with a stem (which is basically similar to the one being
used as a future stem in FUTURE TENSES) combined with an ending
that is dependent on the subject (whether it is about je, tu, elle,
on, nous, vous, ils, or elles.)
• To put it simply, FUTURE STEM + IMPERFECT TENSE ENDING equals
a conditional form.
• There is no direct counterpart in French to the word would.
Instead, the verb ending is changed to turn it into a one-word
version of the English conditional phrase.
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8. Rules for Regular Verbs with -er and -ir endings
in the conditional
The rule in conjugating regular verbs to form a conditional is similar to that
of the rules for the future tense. Basically, you use the same stem for
future tense and just add the appropriate endings.
Examples:
appeler (to call) becomes appellerais, appellerais, appellerait, appellerions,
appelleriez, appelleraient
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Jeter (to throw) becomes jetterais, jetterais, jetterait, jetterions, jetteriez,
jetteraient
For verbs that end in -yer, the y often becomes i when used in the future
tense.
For example:
nettoyer (to clean) becomes nettoierais, nettoierais, nettoierait,
nettoierions, nettoieriez, nettoieraient
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9. Rules for Irregular Verbs in the conditional
The verbs with irregular stems in the future tense are the very same
irregular verbs in conditional. So if you are already familiar with that
topic, this is way too easy for you already.
Some examples of the irregular verbs that have irregular stems in both
future and conditional are the following: avoir, être, faire, aller, devoir,
pouvoir, savoir, tenir, venir, voir, vouloir.
The verb avoir becomes aurais, aurais, aurait, aurions, auriez, auraient
The verb être becomes serais, serais, serait, serions, seriez, seraient
The verb faire becomes ferais, ferais, ferait, ferions, feriez, feraient
The verb aller becomes irais, irais, irait, irions, iriez, iraient
To say it simply, even if these verbs are irregular, they still conform to
the pattern by using the same endings as the regular verbs.
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10. If you are having difficulty trying to catch up
with this topic, feel free to visit the article on
FUTURE TENSE, also in this site.
Just remember to keep coming back to review
the lessons until you have thoroughly
familiarized yourself.
Enjoy!
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