The English equivalent of the French past conditional is would have + past participle (I would have said).
The formation of the past conditional
The past conditional is a compound tense formed by using the present conditional of avoir or etre and the past participle of the verb.
donner to give j'aurais donne tu aurais donne ill elle aurait donne nous aurions donne vous auriez donne ils I elles auraient donne
I would have given you would have given he I she would have given we would have given you would have given they would have given
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104
partir to leave je serais parti(e)*
tu serais parti( e) il serait parti eJle serait partie nous serions parti(e)s vous seriez parti(e)(s) ils seraient partis eJles seraient parties se reveiUer to wake up je me serais reveille( e)*
tu te serais reveille( e) ii se serait reveille eJle se serait reveillee nous nous serions reveille(e)s vous vous seriez reveille(e)(s) ils se seraient reveilles eJles se seraient reveillees
A Complete French Grammar
I would have left you would have left he would have left she would have left we would have left you would have left they would have left they would have left
I would have woken up you would have woken up he would have woken up she would have woken up we would have woken up you would have woken up they would have woken up they would have woken up
*The past conditional follows the same rules as the passe compose as far as the agreement of the past participle is concerned.
Exercice 16 Traduisez.
1. I would have been afraid.
2. She would have worried.
3. Who would have believed that the wail of Berlin would fail?
4. You (fam.) would have laughed.
5. They would have been disappointed.
6. We would have stayed longer, but we had to leave.
7. Would you (fam.) have come?
8. He would have left his country.
9. That would have been much easier.
10. You (fam.) would have gotten angry.
Note:
- Three irregular verbs have a special meaning in the past conditional.
vouloir: j'aurais voulu devoir: j'aurais do pouvoir: j'aurais pu
I would have liked I should have I could have
- The past conditional of vouloir, devoir and pouvoir is foJlowed by the infinitive whereas in English, would have, should have and could haveãare foJiowed by the past participle.
J' aurais voulu etre infirmiere.
Tu aurais du le savoir.
II aurait pu Je faire.
I would have liked to be a nurse.
You should have known it He could have done it.
- The past conditional of il y a (there is I are) is il y aurait eu (there would have been), the past conditional of il faut (it is necessary) is il aurait fallo (it would have been necessary), and the past conditional of il vaut mieux (it is better) is il aorait mieox vain (it would have been better).
Exercice 17 Traduisez.
1. There would have been riots.
2. It would have been necessary to wait 3.1t would have been better to inform the police.
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The Conditional
The uses of the past conditional
• As in English, the past conditional expresses a possibility or eventuality in the past.
Tot ou tard, les gens I' auraient su.
A sa place, je n'aurais pas fait cela.
Sooner or later, people would have found out.
In his position, I would not have done that.
• Contrary to English, the past conditional is used after au cas ou (in case).
Au cas ou vous auriez perdu votre montre, vous pourriez emprunter Ia mienne.
In case you lost your watch, you could borrow mine.
• The past conditional frequently expresses a reproach or regret about an action that was not performed in the past (often with the verbs devoir, vouloir and pouvoir).
II aurait dii s'excuser.
lis auraient (bien) aime I voulu vivre en France.
Tu aurais pu me le dire plus tot.
Exercice 18 Traduisez.
1. In case you (pol.) forgot, tomorrow is my birthday.
2. She would have liked to become a flight attendant.
3. I should have listened to my friends.
4. You (pol.) shouldn't have done that.
5. We could have had an accident.
6. You (fam.) could have said something.
He should have apologized.
They (really) would have liked to live in France.
You could have told me earlier.
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• The past conditional describes what would have happened in the past under a certain condition. This condition [mentioned in a si (if) clause] was not met and can no longer be fulfilled. In such sentences, the verb in the si-clause is in the pluperfect, and the verb in the main clause is in the past conditional. The si-clause can be at the beginning or at the end of the sentence.
Situ etais parti plus tOt, tu n'aurais pas manque l'avion.
If you had left earlier, you wouldn't have missed the plane.
Elle aurait ete contente si elle avait re~:u un prix.
She would have been happy if she had received an award.
Exercice 19 Traduisez.
1. Ifl had known, I wouldn't have come.
2. If you (fam.) had put on a coat, you wouldn't have been cold.
3. If it hadn't rained, I would have gone to the beach.
4. If you (pol.) hadn't drunk too much wine, you wouldn't have had a headache.
5. If I had heard my alarm clock, I would have woken up on time.
6. If we hadn't left late, we wouldn't have missed the train.
• The past conditional is used (as in English) in a subordinate clause after the conjunction que (that) and after si (whether) to express an action or situation that occurred later in time than the verb in the main clause, if this verb is in a past tense. Here, the conditional indicates a future action in the past (see Indirect Speech p. 454).
J'etais silr qu'il serait parti avant mon retour.
lis ont cru que nous aurions ete f1iches.
II se demandait s'il aurait pu y aller.
Nous ne savions pas si nous serions arrives a le faire.
I was sure that he would have left before I returned.
They believed that we would have been angry.
He was wondering whether he could have gone there.
We didn't know whether we would have managed to do it.
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106 A Complete French Grammar
• The past conditional describes a past action or situation the certainty of which has not been confirmed. Like the present conditional, it is widely used by the news media to report alleged facts. [English uses the adverbs supposedly, allegedly, presumably, and reportedly with the verb in the past tense.]
Frederic II aurait invite Voltaire au chateau de Sans-Souci avec le message code p 6 * a
venez 100
* [Venez sous p a cent sous six= Venez souper a Sans-Souci.]
Et Voltaire lui aurait repondu: ô G a.ằ [G grand a petit= J'ai grand appetit.]
Fredecric II supposedly invited Voltaire to the castle Sans-Souci with the coded message ...
And Voltaire allegedly answered him ...
Exercice 20
Traduisez les mots entre parentheses.
I. Selon Ies journaux, (she allegedly left) - - - son mari.
2. (They presumably tried) d'enlever )'enfant.
3. Les cambrioleurs (supposedly took) tousles bijoux.
4. II (supposedly died) d'une crise cardiaque.
5. Le conducteur (allegedly lost) le controle de son vehicule.
Tense sequences in conditional sentences (la concordance des temps)
A conditional sentence usually consists of two parts:
1. a clause introduced by si = if(si-clause) which states a condition and
2. a clause (the main clause) that states the consequence or result of this condition.
The conditional can never be used in the si-clause; it only appears in the main clause.
The three most common tense sequences in conditional sentences are:
si-clause main clause Examples
present tense future tense S' il *fait du solei!, no us sortirons.
imperfect present conditional S'ilfaisait du solei!, nous sortirions.
pluperfect past conditional S'il avaitfait du soleil, nous serions sortis.
*Note that si followed by il and ils is elided (s'il, s'ils), si followed by elle, elles and on is not elided (si elle, si elles, si on).
Exercice 21 Traduisez.
I. If you (fam.) hurry, you will arrive on time.
2. If the weather is nice, we will go to the beach.
3. If I were tired, I would sit down.
4. Which language would you (fam.) speak if you lived in Quebec?
5. If she had written, would you (pol.) have answered?
6. If we had gone to the movies we would have had a good time.
Exercice 22
Completez les phrases avec Ia forme correcte du verbe entre parentheses.
I. Si no us allons au theatre ce soir, nous ( v o i r ) - - - une bonne piece.
2. Qu'est-ce que tu (dire) situ avais I' occasion de faire Ie tour du monde?
3. Qu'est-ce que vous (faire) si vous aviez su?
4. II serait venu s'il (pouvoir) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
5. S'il (pleuvoir) , je mettrais un impermeable.
6. Si je (etre) en retard, je me depecherai.
7. <;a (ne passe passer) sij'avais ete Ia.
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The Conditional 107
Exercice 23
Completez les phrases suivantes par une proposition (a clause) de votre choix. Faites attention a Ia concordance des temps.
1. Je serais content( e) si - - - - 2. Sije voulais voir un f i l m , - - - - 3. S'il avait fait mauvais b i e r , - - - - 4. Sije gagne le gros l o t , - - - - 5. Je ne travaillerai pas si - - - - 6. Je ne travaillerais pas si - - - - 7. Je n'aurais pas travaille si - - - - 8. S'il pleut, - - - -
9. S'il pleuvait, - - - - 10. S'il avait plu, - - - -
Possible tense sequences in conditional sentences
si-clause main clause Examples
present present Si je suis fatigue, je m'assieds.
If I am tired, I sit down.
futur S'il y a un tremblement de terre, nous aurons peur.
If there is an earthquake, we will be afraid.
futur proche Si vous etes d'accord, nous allons partir dans une heure.
If it's OK with you, we are going to leave in one hour.
futur anterieur Situ ne commences pas tout de suite, tu n'auras pas f"mi a temps.
If you don't start right away, you will not have finished on time.
imperatif Si tu vas a Ia boulangerie, achete une baguette.
If you go to the bakery, buy a baguette.
passe compose present Simes parents soot partis a l'heure, ils soot maintenant a Paris.
If my parents left on time, they are now in Paris.
futur S'il a pris l'avion, il sera en France ce soir.
If he took the plane, he will be in France tonight.
futur proche Si tu as fait cela, tu vas avoir des ennuis.
If you did that, you are going to be in trouble.
futur anterieur S'il a deja commence, il aura bientfit fini.
If he already started, he will be fmished soon.
imperatif Si vous etes arrive en retard, excusez-vous!
If you arrived late, apologize!
imparfait S'il n'a rien dit, il ne savait pas quoi dire.
If he didn't say anything, he didn't know what to say.
passe compose S'il est aile en Italie, il a siirement eu du beau temps.
If he went to Italy, he surely had good weather.
imparfait conditionnel present S'il pleuvait,je resterais a Ia maison.
If it rained, I would stay at home.
conditionnel passe Si vous aviez des enfants, vous auriez agi comme moi.
If you had children, you would have acted like me.
plus-que-parfait conditionnel passe Sij'avais gagne beaucoup d'argent,je serais aile a Hawal.
If I had earned a lot of money, I would have gone to Hawaii.
conditionnel present Si je n' avais pas vu le film, je serais triste.
If l had not Siefl thi filffl. I woUld oe sad.
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Chapter 10
The Subjunctive (le subjonctif)
The subjunctive is a mood which has four tenses: the present subjunctive, the past subjunctive, the imperfect subjunctive, and the pluperfect subjunctive. Of these tenses, only the present and the past subjunctive are commonly used in today's French.
There is no future tense in the subjunctive. The present subjunctive is used instead.
Contrary to English, where few Anglo-Saxon subjunctive forms remain (God bless you, I wish he were here, they demand that she come, it is important that you be on time, etc.), the subjunctive is widely used in French, even in everyday language.
Since most French subjunctive forms have no equivalent in English, they are generally translated like the indicative.
Compare:
II vient. (present indicative) He comes.
II est possible qu'il vienne. (present subjunctive) It is possible that he comes.
II est venu. (past indicative) He came.
II est possible qu'il soit venu. (past subjunctive) It is possible that he came.
The indicative is used by the speaker to express what he or she considers to be a fact, i.e., an action or state which occurred in the past, occurs in the present, or will occur in the future. Consider the following examples:
She was ill.
They arrived.
The weather is bad.
I will go to Canada.
Elle etait malade.
lis sont arrives.
II fait mauvais.
J'irai au Canada.
The subjunctive is used when the speaker expresses his, her or someone else's personal opinion, feeling or doubt about such an action or state. Compare the following sentences with the examples above.
It's a shame that she was ill.
We doubt that they arrived.
I am disappointed that the weather is bad.
It is possible that I will go to Canada.
cã est dommage qu' elle ait ete malade.
Nous doutons qu'ils soient arrives.
Je suis de~u qu' il fasse mauvais.
II est possible que j' aille au Canada.
As these sentences show, the subjunctive generally follows the conjunction que (that). But do not assume that every que is followed by the subjunctive. It is the expression preceding que, i.e., the verb in the main clause (which is always at the beginning of the sentence), that determines whether the indicative or the subjunctive must be used in the subordinate clause.
Compare:
Je sais que tu pars. (indicative) I know (that) you are leaving.
Je suis triste que tu partes. (subjunctive) I am sad (that) you are leaving.
In the first sentence, the main clause (je sais) does not express any opinion, doubt or emotion and is therefore followed by the indicative in the subordinate clause (tu pars). In the second sentence, the main clause (je suis triste) expresses a feeling, and is therefore followed by the subjunctive in the subordinate clause (tu partes).
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110 A Complete French Grammar