How to form and use the present conditional in French?

Use the present conditional in French to express a condition, often with the conjunction si (meaning if).

The conditional is a mood in French used in the present tense as an equivalent of the English “would,” “could,” or “should” + verb. For example, I’m sure you’ve learned the phrase je voudrais (meaning I would like). Aside from stating conditions, it is also used to express politeness, advice, wishes, and imagined reality. The conditional has two tenses: present and past. In this post, we’ll go over how to form and use the present conditional. Let’s get started!

To form the present conditional in French, you will add the present conditional endings to the stem of the verb. I have two methods for you:

• One easy way is to take the verb in the infinitive (or the infinitive without the final -e for verbs ending in -re), and to add the endings of the conditional. And I’ve got great news for you: you very likely already know them, because they are exactly the same as the endings of the indicative imperfect tense in French!

  manger → je mangerais

  Translation: to eat → I would eat

  vendre → vendr- → elle vendrait

  Translation: to sell → she would sell

  Here are the present conditional endings:

  pronoun	je	tu	il/elle/on	nous	vous	ils/elles
  conditional ending	-ais	-ais	-ait	-ions	-iez	-aient

• The other method is to take the French future tense stem of your verb (see below), and add the conditional endings. This works 100 percent of the time because verbs that are irregular in the future tense remain irregular in the conditional mood.

  Paragraph content

  future stemfuture ending

  je ferai

  Translation: I will do

  1. Keep the future stem: fer-

  2. Add your ending: -ais

  3. And here is your present conditional:

     future stemconditional ending

     je ferais

     Translation: I would do

Head to this table for eight common irregular verbs in the French present conditional.

Use the French present conditional in si (meaning if) clauses, to make polite requests, to show uncertainty or possibility, to make a suggestion or express a wish or advice, to make an assumption, to talk about the future from a past perspective, and sometimes for reported speech. Let’s look at each one by one.

• I would say that the most common use is in a hypothetical si (meaning if) clause in French. The “if” clause is conjugated in the imperfect, and the other part of the sentence is in the conditional.

  Si

  

  imperfect

  /

  /

  present conditional

  Si j’avais le temps, je cuisinerais plus.

  Translation: If I had time, I would cook more.

• The present conditional is very handy to make a polite request. I very often hear “Une baguette !” when I’m in a bakery in France. Instead try this:

  Je voudrais une baguette s’il vous plaît. 🥖

  Translation: I would like a baguette, please.

  It is also a good way to soften an order:

  Vous pourriez trancher le pain ? 🍞

  Translation: Could you slice the bread?

  And combined with a French negative structure, you can make a gentle request in the form of a question:

  Tu ne pourrais pas ranger tes chaussures qui trainent dans le couloir ?

  Translation: Couldn’t you tidy your shoes which are lying around in the corridor?

• How about using it to show uncertainty or a possibility? I often give this hint to my students:

  Je pourrais (bien) faire un test de vocabulaire jeudi !

  Translation: I might (well) do a vocabulary test on Thursday!

  You can combine the present conditional with a negative structure to express a possibility in a question form in French:

  Il n’aurait pas perdu ses clés ?

  Translation: Could he have lost his keys?

  Another way of expressing a possibility is to use the expression au cas où (meaning just in case):

  Marie-Lou est au café en face, au cas où tu voudrais la rejoindre.

  Translation: Marie-Lou is in the café across the road, just in case you would like to meet her.

• To make a suggestion, express a wish 🌟, or give advice.

  Je m’ennuie. J’irais bien au parc à trampoline.

  Translation: I’m bored. I fancy going to the trampoline park.

  → suggestion

  Il fait chaud, j’aimerais tellement avoir une voiture décapotable !

  Translation: It’s hot, I would like a convertible car so much!

  → wish

  Tu devrais te coucher plus tôt et tu serais moins fatigué.

  → advice

• Journalists and reporters 🎤 often use the conditional when the facts haven’t been verified, to make an assumption, or create a distance with a fact.

  Le malfaiteur aurait un complice à l’étranger.

  But you don’t have to be a journalist! You can use it too in normal speech to make suppositions!

  Il est malade.

  Translation: He is ill.

  ≠

  Il serait malade.

  Translation: He must be ill.

• People use the conditional when they refer to a moment in the future, viewed from the past.

  Je pensais que le contrôle serait plus facile !

  Translation: I thought the test would be easier!

• If the verb in the main clause is in the conditional and you use a conjunction of time, then the conjunction will be followed by the conditional:

  Pendant que je la surveillerais, elle ferait ses devoirs.

  Translation: While I would look after her, she would do her homework.

  • The main clause, elle ferait ses devoirs, uses the conditional so…

  • Pendant que je la surveillerais, which begins with a conjunction of time (pedant) also uses the conditional.

    ↳Sometimes the English translation will use a modal verb (e.g. “would”) but other times this will just be in the past tense (e.g. “While I looked after her, she would do her homework”)

  Other conjunctions of time include:

  Conjunctions of Time	Translation
  dès que aussitôt que	as soon as
  quand lorsque	when
  pendant que tandis que	when

• Finally, use it for reported speech in French (also called indirect discourse or speech) when what you are reporting is in the future tense:

  future tensepresent conditional

  «Je t'appellerai demain ! » → Camille a dit qu’elle m'appellerait demain.

  Translation: “I will call you tomorrow!” → Camille said she would call me tomorrow.

Let’s wrap it all up!

To use the present conditional in French, remember the following tips:

• Form the conditional by using the future stem of the verb and adding the conditional endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.

• Use the conditional when:

  • You want to say “would/could/should” + verb

    BUT keep in mind that “would” is sometimes translated in the imperfect tense in French.

  • There is a condition implied by si (meaning if) + imperfect

  • You want to make a request, a suggestion, or a hypothesis

  • You want to express a wish

  • After a conjunction of time if the main clause is in the present conditional

  • To report speech that was said in the future tense

How confident do you feel using the present conditional? Test yourself with these fun exercises on the French present conditional!