We already have talked about [object Promise] of forming and using the conditional mood. Let's dive deeper and learn more about the past conditional and forming of the conditional sentences.
French
English
S’il fait beau, je fais du vélo.
If the weather is nice, I'll take the bike.
Conditionnel Passé
Rule 1: The conditionnel passé is used to express an unfulfilled possibility. It can also be present in the main clause of an unreal conditional sentence in the past tense.
It corresponds to the English structure "would have" + past participle.
Rule 2: The conditionnel passé is formed by using the conditional form of avoir or être together with the past participle of the verb.
French
English
Vous auriez aimé le film.
You would have liked the film.
Elle serait venue à ta soirée si tu l'avais invitée.
She would have come to your party if you had invited her.
The usage of avoir and être, as well as the agreement of the past participle, are identical to the [object Promise].
Forming the Conditional Sentences
Rule 3: Conditional sentences are used if something happens under a certain condition. The clause with si (when, if) expresses the condition and the main clause expresses the consequences.
The way we form these sentence depends on the probability and the tense.
- Real conditional sentence (something is probable):
- Si-sentence in the present + main clause in futur simple or present tense
French
English
Si j’ai le temps, je ferai le ménage.
When I have time, I'll do the cleaning.
S’il fait beau, je fais du vélo.
If the weather is nice, I'll take the bike.
- Unreal conditional sentence (something is unlikely):
- Si-sentence in the imparfait + main clause in conditionnel presént
French
English
Nous ferions le tour du monde, si nous étions riches.
If we were rich, we would do a world trip.
- Unreal conditional sentence in the past (something is unfulfilled or impossible):
- Si-sentence in the plus-que-parfait + main clause in conditionnel passé
French
English
Si elle avait révisé davantage, elle aurait reussi l’examen.
If she had rehearsed more, she would've passed the exam.
Quiz
1/3
Translate: If you had come, you would have enjoyed the party.
0
correct answers.