French grammar · Intermediate
French Conditional Conjugations: Stems, Endings, and Irregulars
The conditional is built from the future stem plus the imperfect endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Because the stem always ends in r, every conditional form in French contains an r before its ending: je parlerais, tu ferais, nous pourrions. It carries the meaning of English would.
Je voudrais réserver une chambre.
I'd like to book a room.
What it is
Le conditionnel présent is the cheapest tense in French to learn, because you already know both halves of it. The stem is the one you use for the future, and the endings are the ones you use for the imperfect. Put them together and you have would.
parler → je parlerais, tu parlerais, il parlerait, nous parlerions, vous parleriez, ils parleraient.
How to spot it
Look for r followed by an imperfect ending. If you see -rais, -rait, -rions, -riez or -raient, you are reading a conditional, not a future.
- J'aimerais mieux rester. — I'd rather stay.
- Tu devrais lui écrire. — You should write to him.
- Nous serions ravis de venir. — We'd be delighted to come.
- Ils ne viendraient pas sans toi. — They wouldn't come without you.
The nous and vous forms are where the conditional gives itself away in speech: nous parlerions has an audible i that nous parlerons does not.
Conditional Mood Conjugations Quick Reference
Future stem plus imperfect ending, for all three regular groups
| Subject | Ending | parler | finir | vendre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | -ais | parlerais | finirais | vendrais |
| tu | -ais | parlerais | finirais | vendrais |
| il / elle / on | -ait | parlerait | finirait | vendrait |
| nous | -ions | parlerions | finirions | vendrions |
| vous | -iez | parleriez | finiriez | vendriez |
| ils / elles | -aient | parleraient | finiraient | vendraient |
Common Conditional Mood Conjugations Examples in French
The conditional doing its four main jobs:
Polite Requests
- Je voudrais un thé, s'il vous plaît.
- I'd like a tea, please.
- Pourriez-vous répéter ?
- Could you repeat that?
- Auriez-vous une minute ?
- Would you have a minute?
- Ça vous dérangerait de fermer la porte ?
- Would you mind closing the door?
This is the single most useful thing the conditional does. Je veux sounds blunt; je voudrais is what you actually say in a shop.
Hypothetical Situations
- Si j'avais le temps, j'apprendrais le piano.
- If I had time, I'd learn the piano.
- À ta place, je refuserais.
- In your position, I'd refuse.
- Sans toi, je ne saurais pas quoi faire.
- Without you, I wouldn't know what to do.
- Ce serait plus simple par téléphone.
- It'd be simpler by phone.
The condition doesn't have to be spelled out. Ce serait plus simple already implies if we did it that way.
Advice and Reproach
- Tu devrais dormir davantage.
- You should sleep more.
- Vous pourriez essayer l'autre porte.
- You could try the other door.
- Il ferait mieux de se taire.
- He'd do better to keep quiet.
- On aimerait bien savoir pourquoi.
- We'd quite like to know why.
Devrais and pourrais are the everyday equivalents of should and could, and both are conditionals.
Unconfirmed Information
- Le conducteur serait blessé.
- The driver is reportedly injured.
- L'accident aurait lieu vers midi.
- The accident allegedly takes place around midday.
- Les négociations reprendraient lundi.
- Talks are said to resume on Monday.
- On dirait qu'il va pleuvoir.
- It looks like it's going to rain.
French journalism uses the conditional where English inserts reportedly or allegedly. On dirait que is the everyday version of the same idea.
How the Conditional Is Formed
Two pieces you already own, plus a handful of details about where the endings land.
The Stem Is the Future Stem
Whatever stem a verb uses for the future, it uses for the conditional. There is no verb in French with one future stem and a different conditional stem, so learning irregulars once covers both.
Nous irions volontiers avec vous.
We'd gladly go with you.
Future stem, always.
The Endings Are the Imperfect Endings
-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient are exactly the endings you attach to an imperfect stem. The conditional is a future stem wearing imperfect clothes, which is why it feels like a future seen from a distance.
Vous aimeriez visiter le musée ?
Would you like to visit the museum?
-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
Every Form Keeps Its R
Because the stem is an infinitive or a shortened infinitive, an r always sits between the stem and the ending. If you write a conditional with no r, you have written an imperfect instead.
Elle chanterait si on le lui demandait.
She'd sing if we asked her to.
No r, no conditional.
-re Verbs Drop the Final E
Verbs whose infinitive ends in -re lose the e so the stem still finishes on r. Attendre gives attendr-, écrire gives écrir-, mettre gives mettr-.
J'attendrais encore dix minutes.
I'd wait another ten minutes.
attendre → attendr- → j'attendrais.
Spelling Changes Carry Over From the Future
Verbs that alter their stem before a silent ending keep that change in every conditional form. Acheter takes a grave accent, appeler doubles its l, and -oyer verbs turn y into i.
J'achèterais la version reliée.
I'd buy the hardback edition.
achèterais, appellerais, emploierais.
Common Mistakes with Conditional Mood Conjugations
Incorrect: Si j'aurais le temps, je viendrais. — If I had time, I'd come.
Correct: Si j'avais le temps, je viendrais. — If I had time, I'd come.
A conditional never follows si in a hypothetical sentence. Si takes the imperfect and the conditional goes in the other clause. French speakers themselves flag this one as a marker of careless grammar.
Incorrect: Nous aimerons y aller si c'était possible. — We'd like to go if it were possible.
Correct: Nous aimerions y aller si c'était possible. — We'd like to go if it were possible.
The nous form of the conditional has an i that the future does not: aimerions, not aimerons. Dropping it turns a polite hypothesis into a flat prediction.
Incorrect: Il pourait nous aider. — He could help us.
Correct: Il pourrait nous aider. — He could help us.
The stem of pouvoir is pourr-, with two r. So is courr- from courir and mourr- from mourir. The doubled letter is part of the stem, not a typo.
Incorrect: Je voudrais que tu viens avec moi. — I'd like you to come with me.
Correct: Je voudrais que tu viennes avec moi. — I'd like you to come with me.
Vouloir que triggers the subjunctive in the second clause no matter which tense vouloir itself is in. Putting the main verb in the conditional does not soften that requirement.
The Conditional of the Verbs You'll Actually Need
The irregularity always lives in the stem, never in the endings. Learn the stem in the first column heading and the six forms below it follow automatically.
The Four Essentials
Être, avoir, aller and faire are irregular in the future and therefore irregular here too.
| Pronoun | être | avoir | aller | faire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Ce serait and il y aurait are two of the most useful conditionals in the language: it would be, there would be.
The Modal Verbs
These four give you would like, could, should and would know how to, and they account for most conditionals in ordinary speech.
| Pronoun | pouvoir | vouloir | devoir | savoir |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | pourrais | voudrais | devrais | saurais |
| tu | pourrais | voudrais | devrais | saurais |
| il / elle / on | pourrait | voudrait | devrait | saurait |
| nous | pourrions | voudrions | devrions | saurions |
| vous | pourriez | voudriez | devriez | sauriez |
| ils / elles | pourraient | voudraient | devraient | sauraient |
Pouvoir has a double r that you can hear: pourrais is pronounced with a longer r than pourais would be, and the single-r spelling is simply wrong.
Other Common Irregular Stems
Venir, voir and envoyer round out the list, and falloir shows what happens when a verb only exists in the third person singular.
| Pronoun | venir | voir | envoyer | falloir |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | viendrais | verrais | enverrais | — |
| tu | viendrais | verrais | enverrais | — |
| il / elle / on | viendrait | verrait | enverrait | faudrait |
| nous | viendrions | verrions | enverrions | — |
| vous | viendriez | verriez | enverriez | — |
| ils / elles | viendraient | verraient | enverraient | — |
Il faudrait, it would be necessary, is how French says we ought to without naming anyone: il faudrait partir maintenant.
Three Jobs Only the Conditional Can Do
Beyond translating would, the conditional has grammatical duties that have nothing to do with hypotheses.
Softening anything you ask for
Putting the verb of the request into the conditional is the standard politeness device in French, stronger than adding s'il vous plaît to a present-tense demand.
- Je voudrais parler au responsable.
- I'd like to speak to the manager.
- Sauriez-vous où se trouve la poste ?
- Would you happen to know where the post office is?
- J'aurais une question.
- I have a question, if I may.
J'aurais une question is a set phrase for opening a request politely; the conditional there carries no hypothesis at all.
The second half of a si clause
When si introduces an imperfect, the other clause must be conditional. The two tenses are locked together, and the si clause itself is never conditional.
- Si j'étais riche, je voyagerais toute l'année.
- If I were rich, I'd travel all year.
- Si tu venais, on serait six.
- If you came, there'd be six of us.
- Je te le dirais si je le savais.
- I'd tell you if I knew.
The order of the clauses is free; the tense pairing is not. Imperfect after si, conditional in the other half.
Reporting a future from a past viewpoint
When you report speech with a past-tense verb, a future in the original becomes a conditional. English does exactly the same thing with would.
- Il a dit qu'il arriverait à midi.
- He said he'd arrive at midday.
- Elle pensait que ça marcherait.
- She thought it would work.
- On m'a promis qu'ils rappelleraient.
- I was promised they'd call back.
Nothing hypothetical is being expressed here. The conditional is simply the future of a past moment.
Conditional Mood Conjugations FAQs
- How do you conjugate the conditional in French?
- Take the future stem and add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. For regular verbs the stem is the infinitive, minus a final e for -re verbs: je parlerais, je finirais, je vendrais.
- What's the difference between je parlerai and je parlerais?
- Je parlerai is the future, I will speak; je parlerais is the conditional, I would speak. The written difference is a single s, and in ordinary speech many people pronounce them identically, so the surrounding sentence usually decides.
- Which verbs are irregular in the conditional?
- The same ones that are irregular in the future, and with the same stems: être serais, avoir aurais, aller irais, faire ferais, pouvoir pourrais, vouloir voudrais, devoir devrais, savoir saurais, venir viendrais, voir verrais.
- Why is je voudrais more polite than je veux?
- The conditional presents the request as something you'd want rather than something you demand, which leaves the other person room to decline. Je veux un café would sound like an order; je voudrais un café is what a French speaker actually says.
- Does the conditional always translate as would?
- Usually, but not always. In reported speech it corresponds to the English future in the past, and in journalism it means reportedly: selon la police, le suspect serait en fuite, according to the police the suspect is reportedly on the run.