The conditional tense

1. The conditional tense Follow the rules here and you will not go wrong when using the conditional tense

2. Grammar: The conditional tense 1 The conditional tense is used to say what would or wouldn’t happen. Example: Si j’étais riche, j’achèterais une belle maison à la campagne. If I was rich, I would buy a beautiful house in the country. S’il pleuvait, je ne sortirais pas. If it rained, I wouldn’t go out. Ma tante a dit qu’elle arriverait vers midi. My aunt said she would arrive at around midday.

3. Grammar: The conditional tense 2 How would you translate the following sentences? S’il faisait mauvais, je ne jouerais pas au tennis. If the weather was bad, I wouldn’tplay tennis. Si elle avait assez d’argent, elle achèterait une nouvelle voiture. If she had enough money, she would buy a new car. Mon père a téléphoné pour dire qu’il rentrerait en retard. My father phoned to say that he would come home late. Elle a dit qu’elle ne mangerait pas ici. She said that she wouldn’t eat here. Si j’avais mon livre, je pourrais faire mes devoirs. If I had my book, I would be able to do my homework.

4. Grammar: The conditional tense 3 From the examples you have already seen, you may have worked out how to form the conditional tense. It is very easy to form: 1 Take the stem (first part) of the future tense. 2 Add the following endings: je -aisnous -ions tu -ais vous -iez il / elle / on -aitils / elles -aient Which other tense that you have already met has exactly the same endings? Answer: The imperfect tense!

5. Grammar: The conditional tense 4 Reminder - Because you need the future tense stem to form the conditional tense, it might be a good idea to revise this! Question: How do you form the stem of regular verbs in the future tense? Answer: By using the infinitive. Example: infinitive future conditional manger- to eatjemangeraijemangerais Remember also that -re verbs lose the final -e in the future tense stem: attendre- to waitj’attendraij’attendrais

6. Grammar: The conditional tense 5 Question: Which common verbs have an irregular stem in the future tense, and therefore also in the conditional tense? Answer: infinitive future conditional aller - to go j’irai j’irais avoir - to have j’aurai j’aurais courir - to run je courrai je courrais devoir - to have to je devrai je devrais envoyer - to send j’enverrai j’enverrais être - to be je serai je serais faire - to make / do je ferai je ferais mourir - to die je mourrai je mourrais pouvoir - to be able to je pourrai je pourrais recevoir - to receive je recevrai je recevrais savoir - to know je saurai je saurais venir - to come je viendrai je viendrais voir - to see je verrai je verrais vouloir - to want to je voudrai je voudrais

7. Grammar: The conditional tense 6 Look at the following regular verb which is written out in full in the conditional tense: jouer - to play je jouerais I would play tu jouerais you would play il / elle jouerait he / she would play nous jouerions we would play vous joueriez you would play ils / elles joueraient they would play Can you write the following three verbs out in the same way? Be careful! One is regular, one ends in -re and the other is irregular: aller - to go, vendre - to sell, finir - to finish

8. Grammar: The conditional tense 7 aller - to go j’ irais I would go tu irais you would go il / elle irait he / she would go nous irions we would go vous iriez you would go ils/elles iraient they would go vendre - to sell je vendrais I would sell tu vendrais you would sell il / elle vendrait he / she would sell nous vendrions we would sell vous vendriez you would sell ils/elles vendraient they would sell finir - to finish je finirais I would finish tu finirais you would finish il / elle finirait he / she would finish nous finirions we would finish vous finiriez you would finish ils/elles finiraient they would finish

9. Grammar: The conditional tense 8 1 Ma ville idéale _____ moderne et très verte. Il y _____ beaucoup de commerces et il n’y _____ pas de chômage. Dans le centre-ville on _____ une zone piétonne très agréable avec des cafés, des restaurants et des boutiques et on _____ se promener tranquillement. Les magasins _____ très tard et les rues _____ animées. Pour limiter la pollution, il y _____ un réseau de transports très fiable et les autos _____ interdites en centre-ville. On _____ rouler facilement en vélo grâce aux pistes cyclables et il y _____ aussi un tramway. Comme distractions, on _____ aller au cinéma, aux concerts ou au théâtre sans trop dépenser de l’argent. Les habitants _____ très fiers d’y habiter. 1 être 2 avoir 3 avoir 4 voir 5 pouvoir 6 fermer 7 être 8 avoir 9 être 10 pouvoir 11 avoir 12 pouvoir 13 être 1 serait 2 2 aurait 3 3 aurait 4 verrait 4 5 pourrait 6 fermeraient 5 7 seraient 6 8 aurait 7 9 seraient 8 10 pourrait 11 aurait 9 12 pourrait 10 13 seraient 11 12 13 Menu