There are four main verb moods (modes de temps) in French: the indicative, the subjunctive, the conditional and the imperative. In this chapter, we will study the conditional. There are two tenses that use the conditional mood: the present conditional and the past conditional.
First, we will study the present conditional, its form and its use. In the first part, we will go through the form of the verbs. In this lesson, we will cover the verbs of the 3rd group.
The verbs of the 3rd group are called irregular because they don’t follow the same rule of conjugation. The verbs conjugated into the present conditional are formed with the same root as the verbs conjugated into the future simple and the same endings (terminaisons) as those conjugated into the imparfait.
Let’s conjugate the verb
partir into the present conditional:
PARTIR (to go) |
| Je | partirais |
| Tu | partirais |
| Il/Elle/On | partirait |
| Nous | partirions |
| Vous | partiriez |
| Ils/Elles | partiraient |
Notice that “partir” kept the same root as in the future simple and ended with the same “terminaisons” as in the imparfait.
Let’s conjugate another verb:
tenir and
venir into the present conditional:
| | TENIR (to hold) | VENIR (to come) |
| Je | tiendrais | viendrais |
| Tu | tiendrais | viendrais |
| Il/Elle/On | tiendrait | viendrait |
| Nous | tiendrions | viendrions |
| Vous | tiendriez | viendriez |
| Ils/Elles | tiendraient | viendraient |
You notice that the root
tenir and
venir have the same root as in the future simple with a terminaison of the imparfait tense.
Remember: The following verbs which have “tenir” as root conjugate like the verb “tenir” :
appartenir,
obtenir,
retenir,
soutenir.
Now, let’s see how the verb
voir conjugates into the present conditional:
VOIR (to see) |
| Je | verrais |
| Tu | verrais |
| Il/Elle/On | verrait |
| Nous | verrions |
| Vous | verriez |
| Ils/Elles | verraient |
Remember: Not all the verbs that have “voir” as a root conjugate like the verb “voir”. Only the verbs
entrevoir and
revoir do.
The verbs with the root “voir” that conjugate like
recevoir:
apercevoir,
concevoir,
décevoir,
devoir,
émouvoir,
mouvoir,
percevoir,
pleuvoir, and
promouvoir.
RECEVOIR (to receive) |
| Je | recevrais |
| Tu | recevrais |
| Il/Elle/On | recevrait |
| Nous | recevrions |
| Vous | recevriez |
| Ils/Elles | recevraient |
The verbs with the root “voir” that conjugate like
prévoir:
pourvoir:
PRÉVOIR (to predict) |
| Je | prévoirais |
| Tu | prévoirais |
| Il/Elle/On | prévoirait |
| Nous | prévoirions |
| Vous | prévoiriez |
| Ils/Elles | prévoiraient |
Does it look familiar? We conjugated the verb into the future of the indicative and then added the endings (terminaisons)
ais/ais/ait/ions/iez/aient of the imperfect tense.
The following verbs are very common verbs of the third group which roots change when conjugated into the present conditional:
avoir,
être,
aller,
faire,
pouvoir,
savoir and
devoir.
Conjugation of the verb
avoir:
AVOIR (to have) |
| J’ | aurais |
| Tu | aurais |
| Il/Elle/On | aurait |
| Nous | aurions |
| Vous | auriez |
| Ils/Elles | auraient |
Conjugation of the verb
être:
ÊTRE (to be) |
| Je | serais |
| Tu | serais |
| Il/Elle/On | serait |
| Nous | serions |
| Vous | seriez |
| Ils/Elles | seraient |
Conjugation of the verb
aller:
ALLER (to go) |
| J' | irais |
| Tu | irais |
| Il/Elle/On | irait |
| Nous | irions |
| Vous | iriez |
| Ils/Elles | iraient |
Conjugation of the verb
faire:
FAIRE (to do) |
| Je | ferais |
| Tu | ferais |
| Il/Elle/On | ferait |
| Nous | ferions |
| Vous | feriez |
| Ils/Elles | feraient |
Conjugation of the verb
pouvoir:
POUVOIR (to be able to/can) |
| Je | pourrais |
| Tu | pourrais |
| Il/Elle/On | pourrait |
| Nous | pourrions |
| Vous | pourriez |
| Ils/Elles | pourraient |
Conjugation of the verb
savoir:
SAVOIR (to know) |
| Je | saurais |
| Tu | saurais |
| Il/Elle/On | saurait |
| Nous | saurions |
| Vous | sauriez |
| Ils/Elles | sauraient |
Conjugation of the verb
devoir:
DEVOIR (to have to) |
| Je | devrais |
| Tu | devrais |
| Il/Elle/On | devrait |
| Nous | devrions |
| Vous | devriez |
| Ils/Elles | devraient |
Conjugation of the verb
vouloir:
VOULOIR (to want) |
| Je | voudrais |
| Tu | voudrais |
| Il/Elle/On | voudrait |
| Nous | voudrions |
| Vous | voudriez |
| Ils/Elles | voudraient |
To conjugate all the other verbs ending in “re” such as:
prendre,
rendre,
mettre,
conduire, etc.... drop the final “e” and replace it with “ais, ais, ait, ions, iez, aient”.
For example:
Conjugation of the verb
prendre:
PRENDRE (to take) |
| Je | prendrais |
| Tu | prendrais |
| Il/Elle/On | prendrait |
| Nous | prendrions |
| Vous | prendriez |
| Ils/Elles | prendraient |
