French Conditional Tense

The French Conditional tense is mostly used in conversation, especially when shopping or asking for something


It translates roughly as “would”


Je voudrais acheter cette robe - I would like to buy this dress
Ils voudraient aller au restaurant - They would like to go to the restaurant.


French Conditional Tense endings

These are added to the future tense stem of the verb
This is called the radical form of the verb.

e.g. Mangerto eat
radical form: manger


English person French person Conditional ending
I Je ~ais
You(informal) Tu ~ais
He, she Il, elle ~ait
We Nous ~ions
You (formal) Vous ~iez
They Ils/elles ~aient


e.g. Manger - to eat

Je mangeraisI should eat
Tu mangeraisYou should eat
Il/elle mangeraitHe/she should eat
Nous mangerionsWe should eat
Vous mangeriezYou should eat
Ils mangeraientThey should eat

Je mangerais ce fruit s'il n'était pas pourri - I would eat this fruit if it wasn't rotten.


e.g. Vivre to live

Je vivrais I should live
Tu vivraisYou should live
Il/elle vivraitHe/she should live
Nous vivrionsWe should live
Vous vivriezYou should live
Ils vivraientThey should live

Je vivrais au Honolulu si mon travail n'était pas en Danemark
I would live in Honolulu, if my work wasn't in Denmark


e.g Prendre to take

Je prendrais I should take
Tu prendraisYou should take
Il/elle prendraitHe/she should take
Nous prendrionsWe should take
Vous prendriezYou should take
Ils prendraientThey should take

Vous prendriez bien un chocolat chaud avec moi - You should take drink a hot chocolate with me


Caution: although the French Conditional Tense endings are the same as the French imperfect tense, the conditional is used with the radical form


e.g. Vouloir – to should like

Je voudrais I should like
Tu voudraisyou should like
Il/elle voudrait he/she should like
Nous voudrionswe should like
Vous voudriezyou should like
Ils voudraient they should like

Vous voudriez acheter ce meuble
You should like to buy this piece of furniture

The French Conditional Tense doesn’t have exceptions. All the verbs follow this rule as described above



To look at more grammar lessons like French Conditional Tense, click here
More French Grammar Lessons
Accelerated French Vocab Learning | French Colors | Compound Tense French | Demonstrative Pronouns | French Comparative Superlative Adjectives | French Comparative Superlative Adverbs | French Tense | French Future Tense | French Gestures | French Grammar Lessons | French Greetings | French Imperfect Indicative | French Imperfect Subjunctive | French Indicative Present | French Infinitives | French Interrogatives | French Passe Simple | French Present Participle | French Proverbs | French Reflexive Pronouns | French Grammar Terms | Indefinite Article | Introduce Yourself | To Love In French | French Verbs

Learn French Help
Copyright 2005-

Learn-French-Help.com/French Possessive Pronouns.

Share this page:
Enjoy this page? Please pass it on. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Google

Custom Search

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FRENCH TO BLAST OFF!

Get French lessons and verbs emailed direct to you free

Get lots of useful French lessons and French verbs sent to you each week free by email, from the 200 Words a Day accelerated language learning team. Great for learning, review and consolidating your French knowledge.

Yes, send me my free Learn French newsletters. My details are:

Name
Email

Your privacy is important to us. We do not sell our mailing lists.