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13.1. Les situations hypothétiques

Talking About a Hypothetical Situation

13.1.1. The Main Idea

To talk about a hypothetical situation, French often uses the conditionnel présent.

Tu ferais ça ?	Would you do this?
Je voyagerais en France.	I would travel to France.
Nous habiterions au centre-ville.	We would live downtown.

The conditional often means would in English.

13.1.2. The Conditional with Faire

The verb faire uses the irregular stem fer-, the same stem as the futur simple.

je ferais	I would do / make
tu ferais	you would do / make
il ferait	he would do / make
elle ferait	she would do / make
nous ferions	we would do / make
vous feriez	you would do / make
ils feraient	they would do / make
elles feraient	they would do / make

13.1.3. Useful Questions

Tu ferais ça ?	Would you do this? informal
Vous feriez ça ?	Would you do this? formal or plural
Qu’est-ce que tu ferais ?	What would you do?
Qu’est-ce que vous feriez ?	What would you do? formal or plural
Tu irais où ?	Where would you go?
Tu choisirais quoi ?	What would you choose?

13.1.4. Forming the Conditional

For many verbs, use the future stem and add the imparfait endings.

future stem + imparfait endings

conditional

The endings are:

je	-ais
tu	-ais
il / elle	-ait
nous	-ions
vous	-iez
ils / elles	-aient

Examples:

parler → je parlerais	I would speak
finir → je finirais	I would finish
vendre → je vendrais	I would sell
aller → j’irais	I would go
faire → je ferais	I would do / make
être → je serais	I would be
avoir → j’aurais	I would have

13.1.5. Common Conditional Forms

je serais	I would be
j’aurais	I would have
j’irais	I would go
je ferais	I would do / make
je voudrais	I would like / I would want
je pourrais	I could / I would be able to
je devrais	I should / I would have to
je saurais	I would know
je viendrais	I would come
je verrais	I would see

13.1.6. Hypothetical Situations with Si

Use si to mean if.

Si j’avais le temps, je voyagerais.	If I had time, I would travel.
Si j’avais de l’argent, j’achèterais une maison.	If I had money, I would buy a house.
Si j’étais libre, je sortirais.	If I were free, I would go out.
Si tu étais ici, tu comprendrais.	If you were here, you would understand.

Pattern:

si + imparfait, conditionnel

if ___, would ___

Do not use the conditional immediately after si in this pattern.

13.1.7. Everyday Hypothetical Examples

Si j’étais toi, je prendrais le bus.	If I were you, I would take the bus.
Si j’avais une voiture, j’irais au centre-ville.	If I had a car, I would go downtown.
Si le quartier était moins cher, j’habiterais ici.	If the neighbourhood were cheaper, I would live here.
Si je connaissais mieux la ville, je sortirais plus souvent.	If I knew the city better, I would go out more often.

13.1.8. Polite Conditional

The conditional also makes requests softer and more polite.

Je voudrais un café.	I would like a coffee.
Tu pourrais m’aider ?	Could you help me? informal
Vous pourriez répéter ?	Could you repeat? formal or plural
J’aimerais poser une question.	I would like to ask a question.

13.1.9. Negative Sentences

Place ne… pas around the conditional verb.

Je ferais ça.	I would do this.
Je ne ferais pas ça.	I would not do this.
Tu irais là-bas.	You would go there.
Tu n’irais pas là-bas.	You would not go there.
Nous achèterions une maison.	We would buy a house.
Nous n’achèterions pas de maison.	We would not buy a house.

13.1.10. Core Patterns

conditionnel présent	would ___
future stem + imparfait ending	je parlerais
si + imparfait, conditionnel	if ___, would ___
Tu ferais ça ?	Would you do this?
Qu’est-ce que tu ferais ?	What would you do?
Si j’étais toi, je ___ .	If I were you, I would ___.
Je voudrais ___ .	I would like ___.
Tu pourrais ___ ?	Could you ___?

13.1.11. Practice

Would you do this? informal
What would you do?
I would travel.
I would not do this.
If I had time, I would study.
If I were you, I would take the bus.
I would like a coffee.
Could you help me? formal

13.1.12. Answers

Would you do this? informal	Tu ferais ça ?
What would you do?	Qu’est-ce que tu ferais ?
I would travel.	Je voyagerais.
I would not do this.	Je ne ferais pas ça.
If I had time, I would study.	Si j’avais le temps, j’étudierais.
If I were you, I would take the bus.	Si j’étais toi, je prendrais le bus.
I would like a coffee.	Je voudrais un café.
Could you help me? formal	Vous pourriez m’aider ?

13.1.13. Short Dialogue

A : Tu ferais ça ?	A: Would you do this?
B : Non, je ne ferais pas ça. Et toi ?	B: No, I would not do that. And you?
A : Moi, si j’avais le temps, je le ferais.	A: Me, if I had time, I would do it.
B : Vraiment ? Pourquoi ?	B: Really? Why?
A : Parce que ce serait intéressant.	A: Because it would be interesting.

13.1.14. Checkpoint

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to talk about hypothetical situations with the conditionnel présent, ask questions such as Tu ferais ça ?, use si + imparfait + conditionnel, and make polite requests with forms such as je voudrais and vous pourriez.

13.1.15. Try It Out

Try saying this in French:

What would you do?

I would travel.

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Possible answer:

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