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

Learn to conjugate verbs in the second past tense of the conditional

Le passé 2^e (littéraire) du conditionnel

When to use

The 2^nd conditional past tense in French is used to express what would have happened given certain events or actions when writing. This tense is the literary equivalent of the past conditional. The tense works the same but resembles the subjunctive plus-que-parfait. Its English equivalent is as follows:

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

Eg. Louis XVI would have taken New England if there were gold deposits.

Examples of use

Eg. 1)

Elle fût arrivée à l'heure, mais son auto était en panne.

She would have arrived on time, but her car had broken down.

Eg. 2)

Il eût fini le travail si elle l'avait laissé tranquille.

He would have finished the job if she had left him alone.

Eg. 3)

Nous lui eussions 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 subjunctive imperfect tense and use the past participle.

J'	eusse + PP	I
Tu	eusses + PP	you (s.)
Il	eût + PP	he, she, it
Nous	eussions + PP	we
Vous	eussiez + PP	you (p., pol.)
Ils	eussent + PP	they

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

Je	fusse + PP	I
Tu	fusses + PP	you (s.)
Il	fût + PP	he, she, it
Nous	fussions + PP	we
Vous	fussiez + PP	you (p., pol.)
Ils	fussent + PP	they

Examples of conjugation

-er verb
parler to speak
J'	eusse parlé
Tu	eusses parlé
Il	eût parlé
Nous	eussions parlé
Vous	eussiez parlé
Ils	eussent parlé

-ir verb
choissir to choose
J'	eusse choisi
Tu	eusses choisi
Il	eût choisi
Nous	eussions choisi
Vous	eussiez choisi
Ils	eussent choisi

-re verb
vendre to sell
J'	eusse vendu
Tu	eusses vendu
Il	eût vendu
Nous	eussions vendu
Vous	eussiez vendu
Ils	eussent vendu

Requiring être
aller to go
Je	fusse allé(e)
Tu	fusses allé(e)
Il	fût allé(e)
Nous	fussions allé(e)s
Vous	fussiez allé(e)(s)
Ils	fussent allé(e)s

Test your skills in the 'Conjugation game' with DELF A1 verbs!

Notable points

Literary tenses

There are 5 literary tenses in French which all have spoken equivalents and the conditional 2^nd past is one of them. It is also important to note that literary tenses are used in literature, journalism, historical texts and narration. The following is a table of literary and spoken equivalents:

Literary	Spoken
IND. simple past	IND passé composé
IND. past perfect	IND. plus-que-parfait
SUBJ. imperfect*	SUBJ. present
SUBJ. plus-que-parfait**	SUBJ. past
COND. 2^nd past	COND. past

* The subjunctive imperfect tense is only the literary form when main clause is in the past tense and the subjunctive clause, the subordinate, didn't happen first.
** The subjunctive plus-que-parfait tense is only the literary form when the main clause is in the past tense and the subjunctive clause happened before the main clause.

Other moods and tenses

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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