Past conditional in French

The past conditional (French: le conditionnel passé) is generally used to express: 

• cautious in describing events that have happened but are not yet officially confirmed
• regrets

After a pluperfect verb in a 'si' clause, the past conditional is used in the main clause. 

The formation of the past conditional in French 

The past conditional is made up of the present conditional of être or avoir and the past participle. 

Examples 

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The past conditional with 'être'

Verbs using 'être' are state verbs. They do not designate an action but a statement. The past conditional with 'être' agrees in gender and number with the noun they qualify. There are many verbs and among them you find:

Others verbs that use the auxiliary verb 'être'.  

• partir (to leave) 
• devenir (to become)
• tomber (to fall)
• arriver (to arrive)
• sortir (to exit)
• revenir (to come back)
• venir (to come)
• entrer (to enter) 
• rester (to stay)
• retourner (to return) 

​The past conditional with 'avoir' 

Verbs using 'avoir' are active verbs. They designate an action. The past participle conjugated with the auxiliary 'avoir' does not agree with the subject. It agrees with the Direct Object Complement if it is placed before the verb.

Example:

• ils ont acheté des pommes. (They bought apples)
• ils les ont achetées. (They bought them)

You use the auxiliary 'avoir' to conjugate the past participle of 'avoir' and 'être'

• J'aurais eu (I would have had) 
• J'aurais été (I would have been)

Note that you use the same form for all regular and irregular verbs. 

  Keep your motivation and test your knowledge about the conditional with our exercises.