Francisez | Learn to conjugate verbs in the past tense of the conditional

Learn to conjugate verbs in the past tense of the conditional

Le passé du conditionnel

When to use

The conditional past tense in French is used to express what would have happened given certain events or actions. Its English equivalent is as follows:

Conditional past tense
The tense that is composed as would have plus the past participle of the verb.

Eg. I would have gone to the shop but I didn't have money.

Examples of use

Eg. 1)

Je serais arrivé à l'heure, mais mon auto était en panne.

I would have arrived on time, but my car had broken down.

Eg. 2)

Elle aurait fini le travail si nous l'avions laissée tranquille.

She would have finished the job if we had left her alone.

Eg. 3)

Nous lui aurions fait coucou, mais nous ne l'avons pas vue.

We would have said 'hey' to her, but we didn't see her.

How to conjugate

Conjugate the verb avoir (to have) in the conditional present tense and use the past participle.

J'	aurais + PP	I
Tu	aurais + PP	you (s.)
Il	aurait + PP	he, she, it
Nous	aurions + PP	we
Vous	auriez + PP	you (p., pol.)
Ils	auraient + PP	they

With some verbs you will need to conjugate the verb être (to be), instead of avoir (to have), in the conditional present tense and use the past participle. There are only a small handfull of these verbs, find all être verbs and more information here.

Je	serais + PP	I
Tu	serais + PP	you (s.)
Il	serait + PP	he, she, it
Nous	serions + PP	we
Vous	seriez + PP	you (p., pol.)
Ils	seraient + PP	they

-er verb
parler to speak
J'	aurais parlé
Tu	aurais parlé
Il	aurait parlé
Nous	aurions parlé
Vous	auriez parlé
Ils	auraient parlé

-ir verb
choissir to choose
J'	aurais choisi
Tu	aurais choisi
Il	aurait choisi
Nous	aurions choisi
Vous	auriez choisi
Ils	auraient choisi

-re verb
vendre to sell
J'	aurais vendu
Tu	aurais vendu
Il	aurait vendu
Nous	aurions vendu
Vous	auriez vendu
Ils	auraient vendu

Requiring être
aller to go
Je	serais allé(e)
Tu	serais allé(e)
Il	serait allé(e)
Nous	serions allé(e)s
Vous	seriez allé(e)(s)
Ils	seraient allé(e)s

Participles	Present Past
Indicative	Present Imperfect Simple Future Simple Past Passé composé Plus-que-parfait Past Perfect Future Perfect	-ER -IR -RE -ER -IR -RE
Subjunctive	Present Imperfect Plus-que-parfait Past
Conditional	Present Past Past (2^nd)
Imperative	Present Past

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	Se mettre en mouvement, comme en coulant sur une surface lisse
	Scivolare, scorrere; trascinare (informatica)
	滑落，滑动；拖动（计算机）
	Verb is 100% regular