The Conditional Tense

Using one of the easiest tenses to siphon points from on any free

response question in French

In English

• Usually formed with the syntax if p, then q, where p is in the imperfect and q is in the conditional mood.

• Example: If I weren’t doing this PowerPoint, I would be in bed right now.

• Any instance in which the auxiliary verb “would” is included uses the conditional mood

In French• Similar if p, then q syntax known as a “si”

clause where “si” functions as “if”• Example: Si je ne faisais pas ce PowerPoint, je

me coucherais maintenant.• Perfect translation between English and

French, where all conditional mood verbs are the same as saying “would + verb” in English.

• Example: Il ferait ses devoirs s’il avait le temps translates literally to “He would do his homework if he had the time.” Very simple.

Forming Conditional Stems

• For –er and –ir verbs:– Use the infinitive form. That’s all.

… No, seriously. That’s it.

• For –re verbs:– Just drop the e and use that.

Endings

• Take the stem formed from the infinitive or otherwise (see irregular conditional stems ahead)

• Add the ending (see next slide) based on subject

Endings, cont’d.

Pronoun Ending Pronoun Ending

Je -ais Nous -ions

Tu -ais Vous -iez

Il/Elle/On -ait Ils/Elles -aient

Endings, cont’d.

• Examples:– To say “I would have:”• The verb is “avoir”• Thus, the stem is “aur-”• Add the ending for “je” (-ais) to the stem: aurais• End product: J’aurais

Some Irregular Conditional Stems

• Aller : ir-• Avoir : aur- • Courrir : courr-• Devoir: devr-• Envoyer: enverr-• Être: ser-• Faire: fer-

• Falloir: faudr-• Pouvoir: pourr-• Recevoir: recevr-• Savoir: saur-• Venir: veindr-• Voir: verr-• Vouloir: voudr-

Endings, cont’d

• Hopefully you noticed, but the endings are exactly the same as those for the imperfect.

…

BOOM!This should have gotten even easier.