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When do we use the conditional tense?

An explanation of the conditional tense, the tense that is used to talk about what would happen in the future

The conditional tense is used to talk about what would happen in the future:

It is often used with the following expressions:

FrenchEnglish
Apr猫s mes vacancesAfter my holidays
Apr猫s mes 茅tudesAfter I鈥檝e finished studying
Plus tardLater
脌 l鈥檃venirIn the future
La semaine prochaineNext week
Lundi prochainNext Monday
L'ann茅e prochaineNext year
FrenchApr猫s mes vacances
EnglishAfter my holidays
FrenchApr猫s mes 茅tudes
EnglishAfter I鈥檝e finished studying
FrenchPlus tard
EnglishLater
French脌 l鈥檃venir
EnglishIn the future
FrenchLa semaine prochaine
EnglishNext week
FrenchLundi prochain
EnglishNext Monday
FrenchL'ann茅e prochaine
EnglishNext year

Examples:

  • apr猫s mes vacances, j鈥檃imerais voyager en Australie - I'd like to travel to Australia after my holidays

How to form the conditional tense

To form the conditional tense, we need to add the imperfect endings to the future stem (ie with regular -er and -ir verbs the endings are added directly to the infinitive of the verb, and with regular -re verbs, take the final -e off the infinitive and add the endings).

Conditional endings

EnglishSubject pronounEnding
I箩别/箩鈥ais
youtuais
he/she/it (we)il/elle/onait
wenousions
you (formal, plural)vousiez
theyils/ellesaient
EnglishI
Subject pronoun箩别/箩鈥
Endingais
Englishyou
Subject pronountu
Endingais
Englishhe/she/it (we)
Subject pronounil/elle/on
Endingait
Englishwe
Subject pronounnous
Endingions
Englishyou (formal, plural)
Subject pronounvous
Endingiez
Englishthey
Subject pronounils/elles
Endingaient

Examples:

  • regarder 鈫 je regarderais - I would watch
  • finir 鈫 tu finirais - you would finish
  • prendre 鈫 il/elle/on prendrait - he/she/it would take
  • manger 鈫 nous mangerions - we would eat
  • partir 鈫 vous partiriez - you would leave
  • vendre 鈫 ils/elles vendraient - they would sell