Conditional
The conditional mood expresses what would happen, what you would do, or polite requests. It is also used for hypothetical situations and to soften statements.
Formation
The conditional is formed by adding endings to the infinitive or to a specific stem for irregular verbs. The endings are the same as the imperfect tense endings.
Endings
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Regular Verbs
-er Verbs
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-ir Verbs
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-re Verbs
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Irregular Verbs
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Endings
The endings attach consistently and guide you through forming each conditional verb, so learn them once and apply them to all regular verbs.
| French Conjugation | English Translation |
|---|---|
| je ___ais | I would ___ |
| tu ___ais | you would ___ |
| il/elle ___ait | he/she would ___ |
| nous ___ions | we would ___ |
| vous ___iez | you (pl.) would ___ |
| ils/elles ___aient | they would ___ |
| French Ending | English Equivalent |
|---|---|
| -ais | would (1st/2nd person sing.) |
| -ais | would (1st/2nd person sing.) |
| -ait | would (3rd person sing.) |
| -ions | would (1st person pl.) |
| -iez | would (2nd person pl.) |
| -aient | would (3rd person pl.) |
Regular Verbs
Regular verbs keep their infinitive as the stem for the conditional, so you simply add the endings directly.
-er Verbs
| French Example | English Example |
|---|---|
| ☕ Je commanderais un café pour toi. | I would order a coffee for you. |
| 🍵 Tu choisirais un thé. | You would choose a tea. |
| 🥐 Elle prendrait un croissant. | She would have a croissant. |
| 🍰 Nous goûterions une part de gâteau. | We would taste a slice of cake. |
| 🥖 Vous commanderiez une baguette. | You would order a baguette. |
| 🍊 Ils prendraient des jus d’orange. | They would have orange juices. |
-ir Verbs
| French Example | English Example |
|---|---|
| ☕ Je réussirais à trouver la meilleure table. | I would manage to find the best table. |
| 🍵 Tu finirais ton thé avant de partir. | You would finish your tea before leaving. |
| 🥐 Elle choisirait la pâtisserie la plus jolie. | She would choose the prettiest pastry. |
| 🍰 Nous grandirions en goûtant plus de desserts. | We would grow by tasting more desserts. |
| 🥖 Vous puniriez la faim en commandant plus. | You would punish hunger by ordering more. |
| 🍊 Ils établiraient un nouveau record de commandes. | They would set a new record of orders. |
-re Verbs
For -re verbs, you drop the final e from the infinitive before adding the endings.
| French Example | English Example |
|---|---|
| ☕ Je vendrais du café toute la journée. | I would sell coffee all day. |
| 🍵 Tu attendrais la table avec patience. | You would wait for the table patiently. |
| 🥐 Elle perdrait une bouchée en la faisant tomber. | She would lose a bite by dropping it. |
| 🍰 Nous rendrions la commande plus goûteuse. | We would make the order tastier. |
| 🥖 Vous répondriez aux clients avec sourire. | You would respond to customers with a smile. |
| 🍊 Ils attendraient les commandes avec joie. | They would await the orders happily. |
Irregular Verbs
Some high‑frequency verbs change their stem in predictable ways; you then add the usual endings to the new stem.
| French Word(s) | Conditional Stem | English Word(s) |
|---|---|---|
| avoir | aur‑ | to have |
| être | ser‑ | to be |
| aller | ir‑ | to go |
| faire | fer‑ | to do/make |
| venir | viendr‑ | to come |
| pouvoir | pourr‑ | to be able to |
| devoir | devr‑ | to have to |
| savoir | saur‑ | to know |
| voir | verr‑ | to see |
| vouloir | voudr‑ | to want |
Usage
Use the conditional to express polite requests, give advice, state desires, and describe what would happen under certain circumstances.
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Summary
The conditional mood uses endings added to the infinitive or an irregular stem to express would‑time, making it essential for polite speech and hypotheticals.
Last updated: Sun Sep 14, 2025