You have been using the conditional since A1 without being told: je voudrais un café, pourriez-vous m'aider ?. Those were memorised politeness formulas. Now you get the whole tense — its forms, and the four jobs it does in real French, including one that will change how you read the news.
This is the easiest tense in French to build, because it recycles two things you already own: the stem of the futur simple and the endings of the imparfait.
futur stem + imparfait endings (-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient)
Because the stem is the futur stem, every futur irregularity carries over untouched. If you know j'irai, you know j'irais. There is no second list to learn.
| Infinitive | Futur | Conditionnel | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| parler | je parlerai | je parlerais | I would speak |
| finir | je finirai | je finirais | I would finish |
| vendre | je vendrai | je vendrais | I would sell |
| ĂŞtre | je serai | je serais | I would be |
| avoir | j'aurai | j'aurais | I would have |
| aller | j'irai | j'irais | I would go |
| faire | je ferai | je ferais | I would do |
| pouvoir | je pourrai | je pourrais | I could |
| devoir | je devrai | je devrais | I should |
| vouloir | je voudrai | je voudrais | I would like |
| venir | je viendrai | je viendrais | I would come |
| voir | je verrai | je verrais | I would see |
In the je form the difference is a single vowel: je parlerai (futur, closed "ay") vs je parlerais (conditionnel, open "eh"). Many native speakers barely distinguish them in fast speech, so context does the work. In writing, the difference is decisive — get it right.
The fourth compound tense, built like all the others: the conditionnel of avoir or être plus the past participle. It means "would have done" — the thing that did not happen.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| j'aurais fait | zho-ray FAY | I would have done |
| je serais parti(e) | zhuh suh-ray par-TEE | I would have left |
| tu aurais dĂ» | tĂĽ o-ray DĂś | you should have |
| j'aurais pu | zho-ray PĂś | I could have |
| nous aurions aimé | noo zo-ree-ohn ay-MAY | we would have liked |
| elle se serait trompée | el suh suh-ray trohn-PAY | she would have been wrong |
Je voudrais is simply the conditional of vouloir. Seeing it as a tense rather than a phrase unlocks a whole register of softened requests.
| Blunt (présent) | Polite (conditionnel) |
|---|---|
| Je veux parler au directeur. | Je voudrais parler au directeur. |
| Vous pouvez m'aider ? | Pourriez-vous m'aider ? |
| Ça vous dérange ? | Cela vous dérangerait-il ? |
| J'ai une question. | J'aurais une question. |
The conditional is the tense of the imagined. It is the main clause of a type-2 or type-3 si-sentence, which is Lesson 4's whole subject — but it also stands alone whenever the hypothesis is understood.
À ta place, je refuserais. — If I were you, I'd refuse.
Ce serait formidable ! — That would be wonderful!
Au cas où il pleuvrait, prends un parapluie. — In case it rains, take an umbrella.
Note au cas oĂą: unlike most "in case" expressions in French, it takes the conditional, not the subjunctive. It is a useful exception to file away now, before the subjunctive arrives in Lesson 5.
Two verbs do most of this work. Devoir in the conditional gives advice; in the conditionnel passé it becomes a reproach. Pouvoir follows the same arc from suggestion to recrimination.
| Form | French | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| devoir, présent | Tu dois partir. | You must leave. |
| devoir, conditionnel | Tu devrais partir. | You should leave. (advice) |
| devoir, cond. passé | Tu aurais dû partir. | You should have left. (reproach) |
| pouvoir, conditionnel | On pourrait sortir. | We could go out. (suggestion) |
| pouvoir, cond. passé | Tu aurais pu me le dire ! | You could have told me! |
| impersonal | Il vaudrait mieux attendre. | It would be better to wait. |
This one has no English equivalent and it changes how you read French news. When a journalist reports something not yet verified, the verb goes into the conditional. It is not a hypothesis — it is a disclaimer built into the grammar.
| French | Pronunciation | What it actually claims |
|---|---|---|
| Il y aurait des blessés. | eel ee o-ray day blay-SAY | There are reportedly injuries. (unconfirmed) |
| Le suspect aurait fui. | luh sĂĽ-spay o-ray FWEE | The suspect is said to have fled. |
| Selon la police, il s'agirait d'un accident. | suh-lohn lah po-lees eel sah-zhee-ray duhn ak-see-DAHN | Police believe it was an accident. |
| Le ministre démissionnerait. | luh mee-neestr day-mee-syo-nuh-RAY | The minister is reportedly resigning. |
Read Le président aurait menti as "the president allegedly lied", never "the president would have lied". Miss the conditional and you will read rumour as fact — which is exactly what the tense exists to prevent.
It means possibly, and it lives naturally alongside the conditional: Je pourrais Ă©ventuellement passer = "I could possibly drop by", not "I could eventually drop by". For "eventually", use finalement or Ă terme.
The journalistic conditional is everywhere in French media — Le Monde, France Info, the lot. In formal speech you will also hear the very polite Auriez-vous l'obligeance de… and Je vous serais reconnaissant de…, both conditionals, both doing the work of a whole English paragraph of hedging.
Radio-Canada uses the same journalistic conditional, so the reading skill transfers directly. In speech, Québécois often prefers j'aimerais where France reaches for je voudrais, and you will hear ça serait-tu possible ? — that -tu is the Québécois question particle, not the pronoun tu. It attaches to the verb and simply marks a yes/no question.
Fill in the auxiliary in the conditional.
Rewrite the blunt verb in the conditional.
Write fait if the sentence states a confirmed fact, or rumeur if the conditional marks it as unverified.
1. The conditionnel présent is built from:
2. A newspaper writes Le suspect aurait fui. This means:
3. Which one reproaches someone for something they didn't do?