French Grammar: The Past Conditional

Posted by on Sunday, September 13, 2015 · Leave a Comment 

Creative Commons Image via The LEAF Project

Creative Commons Image via The LEAF Project

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Identify:

French Grammar: The Past Conditional
la grammaire française: le conditionnel passé

Study:

The Past Conditional (le conditionnel passé) is also known as the Conditional Perfect. It is a Perfect tense.  Perfect tenses are also known as compound tenses. They use a conjugated auxiliary verb (either AVOIR or ÊTRE) combined with the past participle of the main verb.

The Past Conditional is formed with the conditional mood form of the auxiliary verb (AVOIR or ÊTRE) + the past participle of the main verb.

All rules that apply to the choice of auxiliary verb and past participle agreement in the Passé Composé are identical to the rules for the Past Conditional.

The Past Conditional is used to discuss an action that would have happened in the past (but didn’t) OR what would not have happened (but did).

J’aurais fini le livre si j’avais eu le temps.
I would have finished the book if I had had the time. (I didn’t finish the book.)

Vous auriez aimé apprendre le français avant de voyager au Québec.
You (formal) would have liked to learn French before traveling to Quebec. (You didn’t learn French.)

Elle ne serait pas arrivée  si tôt.
She would not have so early. (She arrived early.)

The Past Conditional is also used to discuss past events or actions that are possible but not quite certain.

Le chien aurait mangé ses devoirs.
(It is possible that) The dog could have eaten his homework.

The Past Conditional can also be used to politely indicate a regret.

Nous aurions voulu le rendre visite avant qu’il soit parti.
We would have like to visit him before he left.

And, just like in English, the Past Conditional is also used in indirect (reported) speech:

“J’aurai manqué le bus!” a dit Guillaume.
Guillaume a dit qu’il aurait manqué le bus.
“I will have missed the bus!” said Guillaume.
Guillaume said that he would have missed the bus.

As with other compound tenses, in a negative statement ne (or n’) precedes the conjugated auxiliary verb and the remaining negative expression follows the auxiliary verb.

Je n’aurais jamais dit ‘oui’.
I would have never said ‘yes’.

Ils ne seraient pas encore partis.
They would not have left yet.

Remember that direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns, and reflexive pronouns are placed in FRONT of the conjugated auxiliary verb. The same is true for the adverbial pronouns Y and EN.

Elle y serait déjà allée.
She would have already gone there.

Les réservations? Il nous les aurait faites ce matin.
The reservations? He would have made them for us this morning.

Nous n’en aurions jamais pensé.
We would never have thought of it.

Adapt: 

Nous aurions acheté le livre.
We would have bought the book.

Avec plus de formation, Richard aurait été homme d’affaires.
With more training, Richard would have been a businessman.

Je n’aurais pas encore écrit les lettres.
I would not have written the letters yet.

Seraient-ils déjà rentrés?
Would they have returned home already?

Oui, ils seraient déjà rentrés.
Yes, they would have returned home already.

Ils auraient préparé le dîner quand la famille est arrivée.
They (masculine) not have made dinner when the family arrived.

La voiture serait tombée en panne avant d’arriver au pont.
The car would have broken down before reaching the bridge.

Seriez-vous venus si vous sauriez?
Would you all have come if you had known?

Non. Si nous saurions, nous ne serions pas venus.
No. If we had known, we would not have come.

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