French past conditional overview detailing formation with auxiliary verbs and past participle, usage for hypothetical past actions, regrets, and reported speech.
The past conditional (le conditionnel passé) in French is a compound tense used to express actions that would have happened in the past under certain conditions. It is formed with the conditional tense of an auxiliary verb (either avoir or être) plus the past participle of the main verb.
- Equivalent to “would have [done]” in English
- Used for hypothetical past situations, expressing regrets or unfulfilled intentions
- Also appears in reported speech for actions that were expected but not realized
Past Participle Usage
- Most verbs use auxiliary avoir (e.g., j’aurais fini)
- Verbs of movement/reflexive verbs use être (e.g., je serais allé)
- Past participle agrees in gender/number when using être
Usage
Hypothetical Past Actions
Expresses an action that would have occurred if something else had happened.
- Si j’avais su, je serais venu.
(If I had known, I would have come.)
Reporting Past Expectations
Describes something someone said or expected would happen, but it didn’t.
- Il a dit qu’il serait arrivé à l’heure.
(He said he would have arrived on time.)
Which verb tense is commonly paired with the past conditional in French reported speech?
Passé composé or passé simple in the main clause, past conditional in the subordinate clause
Reported speech often uses a past tense verb to introduce the statement, with the past conditional describing the expected action.
Translate to English: Il a dit qu’il serait arrivé à l’heure.
He said he would have arrived on time.
The past conditional 'serait arrivé' expresses an action expected in the past but not confirmed as completed.
Expressing Regrets
Conveys remorse about things that didn’t happen.
- J’aurais aimé te voir.
(I wish I had seen you.)
Keywords
- Auxiliary verb (avoir/être) in conditional tense
- Past participle
- Hypothetical past
- Unfulfilled intentions
- Reported speech
- Regrets
The French past conditional is used to talk about actions that would have occurred in the past if circumstances had been different, or to express regrets and report unfulfilled expectations.
Last updated: Thu Jun 12, 2025
