The Conditional Tense in French

Le conditionnel présent

The conditional tense is used to express politeness, hypothetical situations, and wishes rather than stating facts.

Polite requests and questions
Wishes and desires
Hypothetical or unreal situations
Advice and suggestions
Reported information (journalistic use)

When to Use the Conditional

Use	French Example	Translation
Polite request	Je voudrais un café.	I would like a coffee.
Suggestion	Tu pourrais essayer.	You could try.
Hypothesis	Je voyagerais si j’avais le temps.	I would travel if I had time.
Advice	Vous devriez partir tôt.	You should leave early.
Reported info	Il y aurait un problème.	There is said to be a problem.

Subject	Ending
je	-ais
tu	-ais
il / elle / on	-ait
nous	-ions
vous	-iez
ils / elles	-aient

Core Uses of the Conditional

The conditional tense is mainly used to express:

Negative Conditional

Negation is formed the same way as in other tenses.

Questions in the Conditional

Questions are formed using intonation, est-ce que, or inversion.

Common Mistakes

Using conditional after si
Mixing future and conditional endings
Using present tense instead of conditional for politeness
Confusing conditional with imperfect

Use the future tense stem
Add imperfect endings

How to Form the Conditional

The conditional is formed using the future stem of the verb plus imperfect endings.

Irregular Conditional Stems

Irregular verbs use the same stem as in the simple future.

Infinitive	Conditional Stem	Example
être	ser-	je serais
avoir	aur-	tu aurais
aller	ir-	il irait
faire	fer-	nous ferions
venir	viendr-	ils viendraient
pouvoir	pourr-	je pourrais
vouloir	voudr-	elle voudrait
devoir	devr-	ils devraient

Si + imperfect → conditional
Never use the conditional after si

Conditional in Si Clauses

The conditional is commonly used in si clauses (if-sentences).

Conditional vs Simple Future

The conditional and the future tense are closely related but express different meanings.

Conditional	Simple Future
Hypothetical or polite	Certain or planned
Je partirais.	Je partirai.
Dependent on conditions	Independent statement

What Is the Conditional?

The conditional tense (le conditionnel présent) describes actions that would happen under certain conditions. It is often used to sound more polite or to talk about imaginary situations.

Example Sentences

Je voudrais parler au directeur.I would like to speak to the manager.

Nous irions à la plage si nous pouvions.We would go to the beach if we could.

Elle ne ferait jamais ça.She would never do that.

Pourriez-vous répéter, s’il vous plaît ?Could you repeat, please?

Ils accepteraient l’offre avec plus de temps.They would accept the offer with more time.

Je ne ferais pas ça.
Elle n’accepterait jamais.
Nous ne partirions pas sans toi.

Tu viendrais avec nous ?
Est-ce que vous pourriez m’aider ?
Que feriez-vous à ma place ?

Regular Verb Examples

parler → je parlerais
finir → tu finirais
vendre → il vendrait
attendre → nous attendrions

Si j’avais le temps, je voyagerais.
Si elle étudiait plus, elle réussirait.
Nous sortirions si le temps était meilleur.