The Conditional

(Higher tier) The conditional is a Higher-tier structure in AQA GCSE French (8652). Foundation students only need voudrais / voudrait ("would like"); the full conditional below is for Higher tier, so Foundation students can skip it.

The conditional (le conditionnel) means "would". You already know one form of it: je voudrais (I would like). This lesson builds the whole tense on the same pattern.

• je jouerais = I would play
• elle irait = she would go
• nous aimerions = we would like

You use it to be polite, to talk about things that would happen under certain conditions, and to give advice. Best of all, it reuses two things you already know: the future stem and the imperfect endings.

The formula is exactly that: take the future stem (the infinitive, or an irregular stem) and add the imperfect endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.

Subject	parler (to speak)	finir (to finish)	vendre (to sell)
je	parlerais	finirais	vendrais
tu	parlerais	finirais	vendrais
il/elle/on	parlerait	finirait	vendrait
nous	parlerions	finirions	vendrions
vous	parleriez	finiriez	vendriez
ils/elles	parleraient	finiraient	vendraient

Just like the future, the stem always ends in -r, and -re verbs drop their final -e (vendre → vendr-).

Worked examples:

• Je jouerais au tennis, mais je suis fatigué. — I would play tennis, but I am tired.
• Nous finirions plus tôt avec de l'aide. — We would finish earlier with some help.

Because the conditional shares the future's stem, the irregular stems are identical. If you learned them for the future, you already know them here.

Verb	Stem	Conditional (je)	English
être (to be)	ser-	je serais	I would be
avoir (to have)	aur-	j'aurais	I would have
aller (to go)	ir-	j'irais	I would go
faire (to do)	fer-	je ferais	I would do
venir (to come)	viendr-	je viendrais	I would come
pouvoir (to be able)	pourr-	je pourrais	I could / would be able
devoir (to have to)	devr-	je devrais	I should
vouloir (to want)	voudr-	je voudrais	I would like

Worked examples:

• À ta place, je serais content. — In your place, I would be happy.
• Ils viendraient s'ils avaient le temps. — They would come if they had time.

Note the meanings shift slightly for two modals: je pourrais = "I could" and je devrais = "I should". These are among the most useful phrases at Higher tier.

The conditional's signature use is the hypothetical "if" sentence. The rule is fixed:

si + imperfect in the "if" clause → conditional in the main clause.

French	English
Si j'avais de l'argent, je voyagerais.	If I had money, I would travel.
Si tu étais libre, on pourrait sortir.	If you were free, we could go out.
S'il faisait beau, nous irions à la plage.	If the weather were nice, we would go to the beach.

The order can flip, and the meaning stays the same: Je voyagerais si j'avais de l'argent.

Never put the conditional directly after si. It is si j'avais (imperfect), not si j'aurais. "Si + conditional" is a classic error that examiners spot instantly.

Beyond hypotheticals, the conditional makes French polite and lets you give advice — both mark-winning at Higher tier.

Politeness (softening a request or wish):

• Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît. — I would like a coffee, please.
• J'aimerais visiter le Canada. — I would like to visit Canada.
• Pourriez-vous m'aider ? — Could you help me?

Advice (with the modals devoir and pouvoir):

• Tu devrais réviser plus. — You should revise more.
• On pourrait aller au cinéma. — We could go to the cinema.
• Vous ne devriez pas fumer. — You shouldn't smoke.

Devrais = "should" and pourrais/pourrait = "could" turn a flat statement into natural advice: Tu devrais te reposer (You should rest).

Some conditional forms are so useful that it pays to learn them as ready-made chunks and drop them straight into an answer. Every one is built by the same rule (future stem + imperfect endings), but memorising the set saves time in the exam.

French	English	Built from
je voudrais	I would like	vouloir (voudr-)
j'aimerais	I would like / love	aimer
je devrais	I should	devoir (devr-)
tu devrais	you should	devoir (devr-)
on pourrait	we could	pouvoir (pourr-)
ce serait	it would be	être (ser-)
il faudrait	it would be necessary / one should	falloir (faudr-)

Worked examples:

• Ce serait génial de voyager en Italie. — It would be great to travel to Italy.
• Il faudrait faire plus d'efforts. — One should make more of an effort.
• J'aimerais devenir médecin. — I would like to become a doctor.

These chunks pair perfectly with opinions and plans: À mon avis, on pourrait faire plus pour l'environnement (In my opinion, we could do more for the environment).

1. Confusing conditional -ais with future -ai

Je parlerais (I would speak) ends in -ais; je parlerai (I will speak) ends in -ai. The extra -s is the whole difference in the "je" form, so check it every time.

2. Using si + conditional

The "if" clause takes the imperfect: si j'avais, si tu étais. Writing si j'aurais or si tu serais is wrong. Conditional goes only in the main clause.

3. Forgetting the irregular stem

The conditional uses the same irregular stems as the future: j'irais (not j'allerais), je serais (not je êtrais). If the future stem is irregular, so is the conditional stem.

4. Dropping the -i- in nous/vous

The nous and vous forms keep a clear -i-: nous parlerions, vous parleriez — distinct from the future nous parlerons, vous parlerez. Do not merge them.

5. Treating voudrais as the only conditional

Voudrais is just one verb. The pattern applies to every verb: j'aimerais, je ferais, on pourrait, tu devrais. Build the whole tense, not just the one memorised phrase.