In Grade 9 you learned two ways to talk about the future. The futur proche (aller + infinitive) covers plans that are close or certain: Je vais travailler samedi (I'm going to work on Saturday). The futur simple is one word: Je travaillerai cet été (I will work this summer). You also met si + présent → futur (S'il fait beau, nous irons à la plage), and you used je voudrais (I would like) as a polite set phrase without seeing it as a tense. Grade 10 opens that phrase up. Voudrais is one form of a full tense, the conditionnel présent — the French would. You need it to imagine (I would live in Montréal), to give advice (you should), to be polite (could you…?) and to report what someone said they would do. The good news: if you can form the futur, you already know 90 percent of the conditionnel, because both tenses use the same stem. Only the endings change.
| Person | Futur simple: parler | Conditionnel: parler | Futur: finir | Conditionnel: finir | Futur: vendre | Conditionnel: vendre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | parlerai | parlerais | finirai | finirais | vendrai | vendrais |
| tu | parleras | parlerais | finiras | finirais | vendras | vendrais |
| il / elle / on | parlera | parlerait | finira | finirait | vendra | vendrait |
| nous | parlerons | parlerions | finirons | finirions | vendrons | vendrions |
| vous | parlerez | parleriez | finirez | finiriez | vendrez | vendriez |
| ils / elles | parleront | parleraient | finiront | finiraient | vendront | vendraient |
Where the endings come from
Two sets of endings you already know
Futur endings are the present tense of avoir, with av- dropped from nous and vous: ai, as, a, ons, ez, ont (compare j'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont). Conditionnel endings are exactly the imparfait endings: ais, ais, ait, ions, iez, aient (compare je parlais). So the conditionnel is a hybrid: the stem of the future plus the endings of the past. That is a good way to remember its meaning too — it looks forward from an imagined or reported point of view: I would speak.
| Infinitive | Irregular stem | Futur (je) | Conditionnel (je) | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| être | ser- | je serai | je serais | I will be / I would be |
| avoir | aur- | j'aurai | j'aurais | I will have / I would have |
| aller | ir- | j'irai | j'irais | I will go / I would go |
| faire | fer- | je ferai | je ferais | I will do / I would do |
| venir (devenir, revenir) | viendr- | je viendrai | je viendrais | I will come / I would come |
| tenir | tiendr- | je tiendrai | je tiendrais | I will hold / I would hold |
| voir | verr- | je verrai | je verrais | I will see / I would see |
| envoyer | enverr- | j'enverrai | j'enverrais | I will send / I would send |
| pouvoir | pourr- | je pourrai | je pourrais | I will be able / I could |
| courir | courr- | je courrai | je courrais | I will run / I would run |
| mourir | mourr- | je mourrai | je mourrais | I will die / I would die |
| vouloir | voudr- | je voudrai | je voudrais | I will want / I would like |
| savoir | saur- | je saurai | je saurais | I will know / I would know |
| devoir | devr- | je devrai | je devrais | I will have to / I should |
| recevoir | recevr- | je recevrai | je recevrais | I will receive / I would receive |
| falloir (il faut) | faudr- | il faudra | il faudrait | it will be necessary / it would be necessary |
| pleuvoir (il pleut) | pleuvr- | il pleuvra | il pleuvrait | it will rain / it would rain |
Spelling-change verbs keep their change
| Verb type | Example | Futur | Conditionnel | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| e → è | acheter (to buy), lever, promener | j'achèterai | j'achèterais | the next syllable has a silent e (a-chè-te-rai), so the e before it opens to è, just as in j'achète |
| double consonant | appeler (to call), jeter (to throw) | j'appellerai, je jetterai | j'appellerais, je jetterais | same reason, solved by doubling the consonant, as in j'appelle |
| -yer | payer (to pay), essayer, nettoyer | je paierai, je nettoierai | je paierais, je nettoierais | y becomes i before a silent e; with payer and essayer the y is also allowed (je payerai) |
| é stays é | préférer (to prefer), espérer | je préférerai, j'espérerai | je préférerais, j'espérerais | the infinitive is kept whole; the newer spelling je préfèrerai is also accepted |
Serai or serais? Check with tu or nous
je serai (I will be) and je serais (I would be) sound almost the same in everyday speech, and in writing the single letter s changes the meaning. When you are not sure which one you need, switch the subject in your head: tu seras or tu serais? nous serons or nous serions? Those pairs sound clearly different, so the right tense jumps out. Then go back to je and write the matching ending: futur -ai, conditionnel -ais.
AFutur simple: will
- Je travaillerai au camp cet été. — I will work at the camp this summer.
- Nous irons à Moncton en juillet. — We will go to Moncton in July.
- Il pleuvra demain. — It will rain tomorrow.
- Quand j'aurai 16 ans, je pourrai conduire. — When I am 16, I will be able to drive.
BConditionnel présent: would
- Je travaillerais au camp, mais je n'ai pas de voiture. — I would work at the camp, but I don't have a car.
- Nous irions à Moncton avec plaisir. — We would gladly go to Moncton.
- Pourriez-vous m'aider ? — Could you help me?
- Tu devrais dormir plus. — You should sleep more.
Quand + futur: French is more logical than English
English says When I am 16, I will… with a present tense, even though the time is in the future. French uses the futur in both halves: Quand j'aurai 16 ans, je pourrai conduire. The same goes for lorsque (when) and dès que (as soon as): Dès que tu arriveras, on mangera. (As soon as you arrive, we'll eat.) This is one of the clearest Grade 10 upgrades over a word-for-word translation. The key word that does not work this way is si (if): Si tu arrives tôt, on mangera — never a futur after si. You will see why in the lesson on si clauses.
Not every would is a conditionnel
English also uses would for a past habit: When I was little, I would go to the lake every summer. That would means used to, so French uses the imparfait: Quand j'étais petit, j'allais au lac chaque été. Ask yourself: is this an imagined or polite would, or a repeated past action? Only the first one is the conditionnel.
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In context: a text message about summer plans
Salut Noah ! J'ai enfin trouvé un emploi d'été : je travaillerai à la piscine municipale de Sudbury en juillet et en août. Je commencerai le 2 juillet. Quand j'aurai ma première paie, j'achèterai un nouveau vélo. Et toi ? Tu pourrais demander au camp de jour, ils cherchent encore des moniteurs. Ce serait génial de travailler dans le même quartier ! On pourrait prendre l'autobus ensemble le matin. Je t'enverrai le lien ce soir. À plus !
Translation: Hi Noah! I finally found a summer job: I will work at the Sudbury municipal pool in July and August. I'll start on July 2. When I get my first paycheque, I'll buy a new bike. What about you? You could ask at the day camp — they're still looking for counsellors. It would be great to work in the same neighbourhood! We could take the bus together in the morning. I'll send you the link tonight. Talk soon! The facts about the job (travaillerai, commencerai, enverrai) are in the futur. The suggestions and the imagined situation (pourrais, serait, pourrait) are in the conditionnel. Notice quand j'aurai ma première paie: the futur after quand, where English uses a present.