Imagine two emails to a manager. One says Je veux changer mon horaire. Appelez-moi. The other says J'aimerais changer mon horaire. Pourriez-vous m'appeler ? Both ask for the same thing, and only one of them gets a friendly answer. The difference is a single tense: the conditionnel présent. In Grade 10 you learned to form it and to use it for wishes, advice and hypothetical si clauses. This year you will use it the way fluent speakers do: to ask for opinions without pushing, to propose a plan in a group, to give advice that does not sound like an order, and to recognise how advertisers and journalists use it on you. Every one of these uses comes from the same idea: the conditionnel takes one step back from plain fact. A request becomes an option, an order becomes a suggestion, and a news report becomes a claim that nobody has confirmed yet.
Formation in thirty seconds
| Verb type | Stem (same as the futur) | Conditionnel (je / nous / ils) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| regular -er, -ir verbs | the whole infinitive: parler-, finir- | je parlerais, nous finirions, ils parleraient | I would speak, we would finish, they would speak |
| -re verbs | drop the final e: vendr-, prendr- | je prendrais, nous vendrions | I would take, we would sell |
| e → è and doubled consonants | achèter-, appeller-, jetter- | j'achèterais, tu appellerais | I would buy, you would call |
| y → i | paier- (payer- is also accepted), envoyer → enverr- | je paierais, nous enverrions | I would pay, we would send |
| être, avoir, aller, faire | ser-, aur-, ir-, fer- | je serais, nous aurions, ils iraient, tu ferais | I would be, we would have, they would go, you would do |
| modal verbs | pourr-, voudr-, devr-, saur-, faudr- (il faudrait), vaudr- (il vaudrait mieux) | je pourrais, vous voudriez, tu devrais | I could, you would like, you should |
| other irregulars | viendr-, tiendr-, verr-, recevr-, courr-, mourr-, pleuvr- | il viendrait, nous verrions | he would come, we would see |
Asking, proposing and inviting opinions
| Job | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| Polite request | Pourriez-vous m'envoyer le formulaire ? | Could you send me the form? |
| Formal request | Auriez-vous l'amabilité de vérifier ma réservation ? | Would you be kind enough to check my booking? |
| Asking permission | Est-ce que ça vous dérangerait si je partais à 16 h ? | Would you mind if I left at 4 p.m.? |
| Asking for an opinion | Qu'est-ce que vous penseriez d'une sortie au musée ? | What would you think of an outing to the museum? |
| Checking agreement | Seriez-vous d'accord pour reporter la réunion ? | Would you agree to postpone the meeting? |
| Proposing (we) | Nous pourrions partager les tâches. / On pourrait commencer par le budget. | We could share the tasks. / We could start with the budget. |
| Inviting (casual) | Ça te dirait de venir au chalet ? / Ça te tenterait de venir ? | Would you like to come to the cottage? (Ça te tenterait is very common in Québec.) |
- Tu devrais dormir plus. — You should sleep more.
- Tu ne devrais pas lui répondre tout de suite. — You shouldn't answer him right away.
- Vous pourriez demander un délai. — You could ask for an extension.
- Il faudrait réserver avant vendredi. — We ought to book before Friday.
- Il vaudrait mieux attendre. — It would be better to wait.
- À ta place, je parlerais à la gérante. — If I were you, I would talk to the manager.
- J'aimerais faire un échange au Québec. — I would like to do an exchange in Quebec.
- Je voudrais comprendre ton point de vue. — I would like to understand your point of view.
- Nous souhaiterions obtenir plus d'informations. — We would like to get more information. (formal)
- Je préférerais qu'on en parle demain. — I would rather we talked about it tomorrow.
- Ce serait formidable ! — That would be wonderful!
Persuasion: the conditionnel in advertising
Ads rarely order you to buy. They invite you to imagine — and imagining is exactly what the conditionnel does. Read this radio ad for a summer job program, then look at how each sentence works on the listener.
- Voix 1 : Aimeriez-vous gagner de l'argent cet été tout en restant près de chez vous ?
- Voix 2 : Préféreriez-vous travailler dehors plutôt que dans un bureau ?
- Voix 1 : Imaginez : vous planteriez des arbres, vous guideriez des familles dans les sentiers, vous seriez payé chaque semaine.
- Voix 2 : Ça vous tenterait ? Alors vous devriez vous inscrire dès aujourd'hui sur notre site.
- Voix 1 : Les places sont limitées. Ne manquez pas votre chance !
Translation: Would you like to earn money this summer while staying close to home? Would you rather work outdoors than in an office? Imagine: you would plant trees, you would guide families on the trails, you would be paid every week. Does that tempt you? Then you should sign up today on our website. Places are limited. Don't miss your chance! Notice the progression. The questions in the conditionnel (Aimeriez-vous, Préféreriez-vous) are rhetorical: nobody expects an answer, they make you picture yourself saying yes. The string of conditionnels after Imaginez builds a little daydream. Vous devriez sounds like friendly advice rather than a command. Only at the very end does the ad switch to the impératif (Ne manquez pas), once you have already agreed in your head. When you listen to an ad, ask yourself: which sentences give facts (price, dates, conditions) and which only invite you to imagine?
Unconfirmed news: the journalistic conditionnel
In news reports the conditionnel tells you that the information is reported but not confirmed. The journalist is passing on a claim without guaranteeing it: Selon des sources proches du dossier, le maire démissionnerait la semaine prochaine (According to sources close to the matter, the mayor will reportedly resign next week). Le nouveau stade coûterait plus de 500 millions de dollars (The new stadium would reportedly cost more than 500 million dollars). English has to add a word like reportedly, allegedly or apparently; French uses the tense alone, often with selon or d'après. For something that already happened but is not confirmed, the news uses the conditionnel passé: Le suspect aurait quitté le pays (The suspect has reportedly left the country). You will build that tense in lesson 3; for now, learn to recognise it as a warning label on a fact.