How do you form the conditional in French?

Take the future stem and add the imperfect endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Parler gives je parlerais, vendre gives je vendrais, and irregular stems carry over from the future: je serais, j'aurais, j'irais, je ferais.

When do you use the conditional in French?

For politeness (je voudrais), for hypotheses after si plus the imperfect (si j'avais le temps, je viendrais), for advice (tu devrais), for a future seen from the past (il a dit qu'il viendrait), and in journalism for facts not yet confirmed.

Why is the conditional called a mood rather than a tense?

Because it says something about the speaker's stance rather than about time. A mood can contain several tenses, and the conditional does: je viendrais is the present conditional and je serais venu the past one.

How do you tell the conditional from the future?

By the ending. The future takes -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont and the conditional takes -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. In speech the singular forms are nearly identical, so nous and vous are where you can hear the difference: nous ferons against nous ferions.

Is je voudrais more polite than je veux?

Considerably. Je veux states a want directly and can sound peremptory to a stranger; je voudrais presents it as contingent on the other person's willingness. The same shift works elsewhere: pourriez-vous rather than pouvez-vous, auriez-vous rather than avez-vous.

French grammar · Intermediate

The French Conditional: Endings, Uses, and Why It Is a Mood

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

The conditional is a mood, not a tense: it presents an action as depending on something rather than as fact. It is built by taking the future stem — usually the whole infinitive — and adding the imperfect endings, so parler gives je parlerais. It covers politeness, hypotheses, advice, and anything a French speaker wants to say without committing to it.

Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît.

I'd like a coffee, please.

What it is

A mood is a stance the speaker takes towards the action, and the conditional's stance is that this depends on something. Structurally it is the least demanding form in French to build: the stem is the one the future uses, and the endings are the ones the imperfect uses. Nothing new has to be learned to produce it.

Si j'avais le temps, je lirais davantage. — If I had time, I'd read more.

How to spot it

An r immediately followed by -ais, -ait, or -aient. The r arrives with the infinitive and the ending arrives from the imperfect, so a conditional form visibly carries traces of both.

Je prendrais bien un dessert. — I'd quite like a dessert.
Tu devrais lui écrire. — You should write to him.
Nous serions ravis de venir. — We'd be delighted to come.
Ils ne diraient rien. — They wouldn't say anything.

The future has the same r and the endings -ai, -a, -ont. Je parlerai is a promise; je parlerais is a supposition.

Conditional Mood Quick Reference

The seven jobs the present conditional does

Use	English	Example
Politeness	would like	Je voudrais réserver. — I'd like to book.
Hypothesis after si + imparfait	would	Si j'avais l'argent, je partirais. — If I had the money, I'd go.
Advice	should, ought to	Tu devrais te reposer. — You should rest.
Future in the past	would	Il a dit qu'il viendrait. — He said he'd come.
Softened suggestion	could	On pourrait dîner dehors. — We could eat out.
Unconfirmed report	reportedly	Il y aurait des blessés. — There are reportedly casualties.
Wish	would love to	J'aimerais bien vous rencontrer. — I'd love to meet you.

Common Conditional Mood Examples in French

The conditional in the situations that produce it most often:

Politeness

Je voudrais un billet aller-retour.: I'd like a return ticket.
Auriez-vous une table pour deux ?: Would you have a table for two?
Pourrais-tu m'ouvrir la porte ?: Could you open the door for me?
Je souhaiterais parler au responsable.: I'd like to speak to the manager.

This is the conditional's commonest everyday use. Je veux un café is perfectly grammatical and lands as a demand; je voudrais un café is what people actually say in a café.

Hypotheses with Si

Si j'étais riche, j'achèterais une maison.: If I were rich, I'd buy a house.
Si on partait maintenant, on arriverait à temps.: If we left now, we'd get there in time.
Que ferais-tu à ma place ?: What would you do in my position?
Sans lui, je ne saurais pas quoi faire.: Without him, I wouldn't know what to do.

The si clause takes the imperfect and the conditional goes in the other half. The condition can also be left implicit, as in sans lui or à ma place.

Advice and Suggestions

Tu devrais consulter un médecin.: You should see a doctor.
On pourrait y aller à pied.: We could walk there.
Il vaudrait mieux attendre.: It would be better to wait.
Vous feriez mieux de partir tôt.: You'd do better to leave early.

Devrais, pourrais, and vaudrait mieux are how French offers advice without issuing orders. The imperative would be far more forceful.

Future in the Past

Il a dit qu'il viendrait.: He said he'd come.
Je pensais que ce serait plus facile.: I thought it would be easier.
Elle savait qu'ils refuseraient.: She knew they'd refuse.
On nous a promis que tout serait prêt.: We were promised everything would be ready.

When the reporting verb is in the past, a future idea inside the reported clause becomes a conditional. English does exactly the same thing, turning will into would.

How the Conditional Is Built

Two halves you already know, joined together, plus the one rule about si that has to be automatic.

Future Stem, Imperfect Endings

Take whatever stem the verb uses in the future and attach -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Nothing about the conditional is new: it is the intersection of two forms you have already met.

Nous aimerions rester encore un peu.

We'd like to stay a little longer.

Future stem + imperfect endings.

The Stem Always Ends in R

This is inherited from the future, and it holds for every verb without exception, including the irregular ones: ser-, aur-, ir-, fer-, voudr-, pourr-, faudr-. If there is no r, you are not looking at a conditional.

Il faudrait partir avant six heures.

We'd have to leave before six.

No r, no conditional.

-re Verbs Drop the Final E

Verbs whose infinitive ends in -re lose that e so the stem still finishes on r. Mettre becomes mettr-, écrire becomes écrir-, boire becomes boir-.

Je ne mettrais pas cette veste.

I wouldn't wear that jacket.

mettre → mettr- → je mettrais.

Si Takes the Imperfect, Never the Conditional

The conjunction si already carries the hypothesis, so the verb after it stays in an indicative tense. For a present or future hypothesis that tense is the imperfect, and the conditional goes in the other clause.

Si tu venais, on serait content.

If you came, we'd be pleased.

si + imparfait, then conditionnel.

Being a Mood, It Has a Past Form Too

Moods contain tenses. The present conditional leaves the possibility open, and the past conditional — avoir or être in the conditional plus a participle — closes it, which is how French says would have.

J'aurais aimé venir, mais je travaillais.

I'd have liked to come, but I was working.

aimerais now, aurais aimé then.

Common Mistakes with Conditional Mood

Incorrect: Si j'aurais de l'argent, je voyagerais. — If I had money, I'd travel.

Correct: Si j'avais de l'argent, je voyagerais. — If I had money, I'd travel.

Si never takes a conditional. The condition goes into the imperfect and the conditional lands in the other clause. Only one of the two verbs may be a conditional.

Incorrect: Je veux parler au directeur. — I'd like to speak to the director.

Correct: Je voudrais parler au directeur. — I'd like to speak to the director.

Both sentences are grammatical, but je veux is a bare statement of want and reads as a demand. In shops, offices, and any dealing with a stranger, the conditional is the default register.

Incorrect: Je vouloirais un renseignement. — I'd like some information.

Correct: Je voudrais un renseignement. — I'd like some information.

Vouloir has the irregular stem voudr-, shared with the future. Where the future does not use the plain infinitive, the conditional does not either.

Incorrect: Il a dit qu'il viendra. — He said he'd come.

Correct: Il a dit qu'il viendrait. — He said he'd come.

Once the reporting verb is in the past, a future idea inside the reported clause shifts to the conditional. It is the same backshift English performs when will becomes would.

Conditional Conjugation Tables

The endings are constant, so the only variable is the stem. These three tables cover the regular families, the four verbs you cannot avoid, and the modals that carry most of the politeness.

The three regular families

For -er and -ir verbs the stem is the complete infinitive. For -re verbs it is the infinitive minus its final e.

Pronoun	parler	finir	vendre
je / j'	parlerais	finirais	vendrais
tu	parlerais	finirais	vendrais
il / elle / on	parlerait	finirait	vendrait
nous	parlerions	finirions	vendrions
vous	parleriez	finiriez	vendriez
ils / elles	parleraient	finiraient	vendraient

Four of the six forms are pronounced identically, which is true of the imperfect as well and for the same reason.

The four unavoidable irregulars

Être, avoir, aller, and faire use the same shortened stems here as they do in the future. Learn the stem once and it serves both.

Pronoun	être (ser-)	avoir (aur-)	aller (ir-)	faire (fer-)
je / j'	serais	aurais	irais	ferais
tu	serais	aurais	irais	ferais
il / elle / on	serait	aurait	irait	ferait
nous	serions	aurions	irions	ferions
vous	seriez	auriez	iriez	feriez
ils / elles	seraient	auraient	iraient	feraient

Aurais and serais also serve as the auxiliaries of the past conditional: j'aurais fini, je serais parti.

The polite modals

These four do most of the conditional's social work: requesting, advising, suggesting, and asking a stranger for information.

Pronoun	vouloir (voudr-)	pouvoir (pourr-)	devoir (devr-)	savoir (saur-)
je / j'	voudrais	pourrais	devrais	saurais
tu	voudrais	pourrais	devrais	saurais
il / elle / on	voudrait	pourrait	devrait	saurait
nous	voudrions	pourrions	devrions	saurions
vous	voudriez	pourriez	devriez	sauriez
ils / elles	voudraient	pourraient	devraient	sauraient

Je voudrais is probably the single most useful conditional form in the language, and it is worth learning before the rest of the paradigm.

Politeness, News, and Imagined Worlds

Three settings where the conditional is doing something English handles with extra words instead.

Requests, offers, and asking strangers

Swapping a present tense for a conditional is the standard French politeness move. It works with vouloir, pouvoir, avoir, aimer, and savoir.

Je voudrais essayer celui-ci.: I'd like to try this one.
Sauriez-vous où se trouve la gare ?: Would you happen to know where the station is?
Aimeriez-vous boire quelque chose ?: Would you like something to drink?

Sauriez-vous is noticeably more courteous than savez-vous, and it is what people use when stopping a stranger in the street.

The conditional of the press

A journalist can report an unconfirmed fact by putting the verb in the conditional. No hedging word is added; the mood carries the caution on its own.

Il y aurait une vingtaine de blessés.: There are said to be around twenty injured.
Le gouvernement préparerait une réforme.: The government is reportedly preparing a reform.

This is why French headlines can look hypothetical when they are describing events that turn out to be entirely real.

Games, plans, and daydreaming

French sets up an imagined scenario with the imperfect and then describes life inside it with the conditional. Children playing do this constantly, and so do adults making loose plans.

On serait des pirates et toi, tu serais le capitaine.: We'd be pirates and you'd be the captain.
Ce serait une île déserte.: It'd be a desert island.
On prendrait la voiture et on partirait tôt.: We'd take the car and set off early.

No si is needed once the scenario has been established. The conditional keeps the whole passage inside the imagined frame.

Conditional Mood FAQs

How do you form the conditional in French?: Take the future stem and add the imperfect endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Parler gives je parlerais, vendre gives je vendrais, and irregular stems carry over from the future: je serais, j'aurais, j'irais, je ferais.
When do you use the conditional in French?: For politeness (je voudrais), for hypotheses after si plus the imperfect (si j'avais le temps, je viendrais), for advice (tu devrais), for a future seen from the past (il a dit qu'il viendrait), and in journalism for facts not yet confirmed.
Why is the conditional called a mood rather than a tense?: Because it says something about the speaker's stance rather than about time. A mood can contain several tenses, and the conditional does: je viendrais is the present conditional and je serais venu the past one.
How do you tell the conditional from the future?: By the ending. The future takes -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont and the conditional takes -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. In speech the singular forms are nearly identical, so nous and vous are where you can hear the difference: nous ferons against nous ferions.
Is je voudrais more polite than je veux?: Considerably. Je veux states a want directly and can sound peremptory to a stranger; je voudrais presents it as contingent on the other person's willingness. The same shift works elsewhere: pourriez-vous rather than pouvez-vous, auriez-vous rather than avez-vous.