Conditionnel présent - Actif (Basic Format)
2A Conditionnel présent – actif (Basic format)1. For verbs ending in "-r", add the following endings after the final "-r" of the verb (-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient). 2. For verbs ending in "-re", first remove the final "-e" from "-re", and then add the above endings. These endings, when added after the final "-r" of the verb, all mean "would", or "would be ... -ing" |
2A Examples:
Example 1 (masculin / féminin singulier)
Il (elle) parlerait. He (she) would be speaking / would be talking. He (she) would speak / would talk. |
There are a few special spelling rules for the Conditionnel présent:
Special Spelling Rule 1 According to the rules of "La Nouvelle orthographe" (New Rules of Spelling) from the Académie française, when creating the Conditionnel présent of a verb whose "Infinitif" form ends in the sequence "... e + single consonant + -er", or in "... é + single consonant + -er", the "e" or "é" preceding the " single consonant" is changed into "è" before a mute syllable, (that is a syllable ending in a silent –e). Example 1 Infinitif: 'lever' = ( ... e + v + er ) ; Conditionnel présent: il (elle) lèverait
Example 2 Infinitif: 'protéger' = ( ... é + g + er ) ; Conditionnel présent: il (elle) protègerait Note: This rule also applies to 1st-Group verbs in –er whose "Infinitif" form includes the sequence of "... e" or "... é" followed by a pair of unlike consonants whose second letter is "h", "l", "n", "r", or "u". Examples are: ch - pécher, which would become "il (elle) pècherait" gl - régler, ... il (elle) règlerait gn - régner, ... il (elle) règnerait br - célébrer, ... il (elle) célèbrerait gu - déléguer, ... il (elle) délèguerait |
Special Spelling Rule 2 For verbs ending in '-eler' and '-eter' A small group of verbs ending in '-eler' and '-eter' double their 'l' or 't' when they come before mute syllables. This group of verbs includes verbs such as 'appeler', 'jeter', and their derivatives (including interpeler) Examples of the doubling of 'l' Infinitif: 'appeler', ... il (elle) appellerait Infinitif: 'rappeler' ; ... il (elle) rappellerait
Examples of the doubling of 't': Infinitif: 'jeter', ... il (elle) jetterait Infinitif: 'projeter', ... il (elle) projetterait |
Finally, there are several important verbs which modify their stem (core spelling) before adding the endings.
These are listed below, and are grouped according to the similarities in their modified form (that is, in their adjusted stem).
Infinitif | Adjusted Stem | Examples for : "je, tu, il, nous, vous, ils" (in sequence) |
avoir (to have) |
aur- |
j'aurais I would be having I would have |
savoir (to know) |
saur- |
tu saurais you would know |
être (to be) |
ser- |
il serait he / it would be |
faire (to do / to make) |
fer- |
nous ferions we would be doing we would be making we would do we would make |
vouloir (to want) |
voudr- |
vous voudriez you would be wanting you would want |
pouvoir (to be able) |
pourr- |
ils pourraient they would be able they could |
devoir (to have to) |
devr- |
je devrais I would have to I should |
recevoir (to receive) |
recevr- |
tu recevrais You would be receiving You would receive |
aller (to go) |
ir- |
il irait he would be going he would go |
venir (to come) |
viendr- |
je viendrais I would be coming I would come |
tenir (to hold) |
tiendr- |
tu tiendrais you would be holding you would hold |
voir (to see) |
verr- |
il verrait he would be seeing he would see |
envoyer (to send) |
enverr- |
nous enverrions we would be sending we would send |
courir (to run) |
courr- |
vous courriez you would be running you would run |
mourir (to die) |
mourr- |
ils mourraient they would be dying they would die |
valoir (to be worth) |
vaudr- |
je vaudrais I would be worth |
falloir ↓ |
faudr- |
il faudrait it would be necessary |
(to be necessary) (impersonal - always conjugated with " il ") |
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s'asseoir (to sit) |
assoir- |
tu t'assoirais you would be sitting you would sit |
s'asseoir (to sit) |
assiér |
nous nous assiérions we would be sitting we would sit |