Conditional sentences
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Conditional sentences
Conditional sentences are the combination of tenses you have in sentences following si.
Think what tenses are being used in the following examples:
- If I go, he will go too
- If I went, he would go too
- If I had gone, he would have gone too.
The same tenses apply in French.
Si works as follows:
Si + present tense, then future tense
- Si je vais, il ira aussi
- If I go , he will go too
Si + imperfect, then conditional
- Si j'allais, il irait aussi
- If I went, he would go too
Si + pluperfect, then conditional perfect
- Si j'étais allé, il serait allé aussi
- If I had gone, he would have gone too
The pluperfect is formed the same as the perfect but uses the imperfect form of avoir or être in the middle.
The conditional perfect is the same as the perfect but uses the conditional tense of avoir or être in the middle.
| Perfect | Pluperfect | Conditional perfect |
|---|---|---|
| J'ai visité | j'avais visité | j'aurai visité |
| il a visité | il avait visité | il aurait visité |
| nous avons visité | nous avions visité | nous aurions visité |
Verbs that take être in the perfect also take être in these other tenses and still have feminine/plural agreements
| Perfect | Pluperfect | Conditional perfect |
|---|---|---|
| je suis allé (e) | j'étais allé (e) | je serais allé (e) |
| il est allé | il était allé | il serait allé |
| nous sommes allé(e)s | nous étions allé(e)s | nous serions allé(e)s |
Try this exercise, complete the rest of the sentence, just change the tense appropriately by clicking in the gap and typing in the correct word:
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