French · Rung 22 of 26

Conditional and politeness

The conditional takes the future stem plus the imparfait endings: je partirais. Its commonest use is not hypothetical but polite, which is why it appears the moment you walk into a shop: je voudrais un café sounds right and je veux un café sounds like an order. Pourriez-vous… is the normal way to ask a stranger for something. In a hypothesis the pairing is fixed and no future may follow si: si j'avais le temps, je viendrais, with the imparfait in the condition and the conditional in the consequence. It also carries unconfirmed information, which is how the press speaks: le président serait malade, “the president is reportedly ill”.

Where this sits

Comes after
Simple future and futur proche

Exercises from this rung

Generated by the app, from easiest to hardest

  1. ___-vous m'aider ?

    • Pourriez
    • Puissiez
    • Pouvez
    • Pourrez

    Why Pourriez-vous is the normal way to ask a stranger for something. Pouvez-vous is correct but blunter; the conditional sets the right distance.

    easier

  2. À ta place, je ___ tout de suite. (partir)

    • partais
    • partirai
    • parte
    • partirais

    Why The conditional is the future stem plus the imparfait endings: partir- + -ais. That is why it looks so like the future, told apart only by the ending: partirai (future) and partirais (conditional).

    in between

  3. J'___ venir, mais j'ai eu un empêchement.

    • aurais aimé
    • aimais
    • aimerais
    • ai aimé

    Why The past conditional is the auxiliary in the conditional plus the participle: j'aurais aimé, je serais venu. It carries regret and reproach.

    harder