Conditional in French
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HideWhen do we use the conditional in French?
The conditional (French: le conditionnel) can be used either as a tense or a mood in French. The conditional tense is used to express the future from a past perspective. When it's used in this way, we also speak about it as future du passé.
The conditional mode is mainly used for expressing:
- wishes
- possibilities & assumptions
- polite requests
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Giuseppina M. 
Petra H. 
Filoyana G. 
NACEREDDINE A. 
Marie blanche L.
Cristina O.
Laetitia G.
Florence F.
Meriem E. 
Paul T.
Forming the conditional
The conditional tense is formed of
- the infinitive
- the imparfait endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient
Examples of using the conditional tense
| Infinitive | Conditional | Translation |
|---|---|---|
parler (to speak) | je parlerais tu parlerais il/elle parlerait nous parlerions vous parleriez ils/elles parleraient | I would speak you would speak he/she would speak we would speak you would speak they would speak |
venir (to come) | je viendrais tu viendrais il/elle viendrait nous viendrions vous viendriez ils/elles viendraient | I would come you would come he/she would come we would come you would come they would come |
Examples of using the conditional mode
| Mode | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Wish | Je voudrais un kilo de bananes. | I would like on kilo of the bananas. |
| Opportunity/Assumption | Où est-elle? Aurait-elle oublié l'heure? | Where is she? Would she have forgotten the time? |
| Formal request | Pourriez-vous me dire, monsieur, où est la station de métro? | Would you tell me, sir, where the metro station is? |
Test your knowledge of the conditional in French by completing our online exercises!