French conditional tense: say "would" the French way

The French conditional tense, le conditionnel, is the form behind “would” in conditional French: what could happen, what you politely ask for, what someone said would happen. It is built from the future stem, so it is easy once you know the pattern. If you are new to verb forms, start with how to conjugate French verbs. For its two relatives, see the French future tense and the imparfait.

What is the French conditional tense?

The conditional is the verb form for an action that depends on a condition, stated or not. The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) calls it a “futur hypothétique”: like the future, but with extra hypothesis [2]. Compare J’ai acheté un livre que tu aimeras (you will like it) with J’ai acheté un livre que tu aimerais (you would like it, under some conditions) [2].

Its condition can stay unspoken. Je prendrais bien une semaine de vacances carries an implied “if I had the time” [2]. For where it sits among the other tenses, see French tenses.

Is the conditional a mood or a tense in French?

Both names are in use. The OQLF says the conditional was long presented as a mood, but most linguists and grammarians now treat it as a tense of the indicative [2]. Its reason: the future and the imparfait also carry modal meanings, so by the same argument they would have to be moods too [2]. So “conditional mood French” and “conditional tense French” point to the same forms. The subjunctive is a different story: see the French subjunctive.

How do you form the conditionnel présent in French?

Take the stem and add -rais, -rais, -rait, -rions, -riez or -raient [1]. The OQLF explains why it feels familiar: the -r- is the future’s, and the endings that follow are those of the imparfait [2].

• -er verbs: the infinitive plus the endings, so parler gives je parlerais [1].
• -ir verbs: the same, so finir gives je finirais [1].
• Most irregular -re verbs: the infinitive without its final e, so prendre gives je prendrais, and “metterais” is wrong [1].

Hear the infinitives, then read the je form beside them.

One spelling point: in -er verbs whose stem ends in a vowel sound, such as créer, plier and saluer, the e stays in writing, so “ne créerait jamais” and not “crérait” [1].

Which verbs have an irregular stem in the conditional?

The OQLF lists these verbs with a changed stem. Each is the je form [1].

The same page also lists acquérir (j’acquerrais), cueillir (je cueillerais) and mourir (je mourrais) [1]. For the polite forms of vouloir, pouvoir and devoir side by side, see vouloir, pouvoir, devoir.

How do you make a polite request with the conditional?

Put the verb in the conditional. The OQLF says it softens a piece of advice, a request or an order, because the thing is presented as a possibility. The present or the future also work, but they sound more categorical [4]. Its examples [4]:

• Pourriez-vous me prêter un crayon, je vous prie? (Could you lend me a pencil, please?)
• Accepterais-tu de remettre ce livre à Juan de ma part?
• Je souhaiterais vous rencontrer lorsque vous aurez un peu de temps.
• Il faudrait repeindre cette pièce., compared with the firmer Il faut repeindre cette pièce.

How do si clauses work with the conditional?

The conditional goes in the result, not after si. When si introduces a condition, its verb is never in the conditional. It can be in the présent, the imparfait or the plus-que-parfait [3][6].

How does the conditional work in reported speech?

After a past verb, the conditional shows an event that comes later. The OQLF calls this “le futur du passé” [5]. The verb in the conditional goes with an imparfait, passé simple, passé composé or plus-que-parfait. In direct speech, the same verb would be in the future [5].

• François a affirmé qu’il ne voterait que selon sa conscience. Direct: Je ne voterai que selon ma conscience. [5]
• Sara a appris hier que son frère l’accompagnerait chez ses parents. [5]

News writing uses the conditional for another job: to give information without vouching for it, as in Selon la rumeur, le président annoncerait la fusion demain [4].

Common mistakes

• Putting the conditional after si. “Je viendrais si tu voudrais” is the frequent error; say Je viendrais si tu voulais [3]. The condition comes first in time, so it takes the imparfait or another tense that is not the conditional [3].
• Mixing up the future and the conditional. They share the -r-, but the conditional ends -rais, -rais, -rait [1][2]. For the future endings see the French future tense.
• Adding an e to -re verbs. Say prendrais, not “prenderais” [1].
• Dropping the e after a vowel sound. Créerait keeps its second e in writing [1].
• Treating politeness as a rule. The OQLF says the present or future is possible in a request; the conditional only softens it [4].
• Trusting a page, including this one, without its date. Only two of the six OQLF pages show an update year (“Dernière mise à jour”: 2026 on [1], 2014 on [6]), so compare with ours at the top and re-read the original if it matters.

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