Grammar: Past Conditional

ByFast French

The Past Conditional tense in French expresses the idea that you WOULD HAVE done something, if conditions had been different in the past.

In English, it uses either the words “would have” or “‘d” (apostrophe d) + “have.” The past conditional of the English verb “to give” is either “I would have given” or “I’d have given.” The past conditional of the English verb “to take” is either “I would have taken” or “I’d have taken.” The negative past conditional of the English verb “to give” is either “I wouldn’t have given” or “I’d not have given.”

The Past Conditional tense in French is a compound tense. That means it is made up of two verbs, not just one. If it were made of just one verb, it would be called a simple tense, like the Future Simple.

This tense is often used to express regret (“If I’d been braver, I would have acted sooner”) or recriminations (“If you had told me, I would have helped you”). It is usually paired with the Plus-que-parfait tense (Past Perfect tense) in these situations.

How to form the Past Conditional tense in French

  1. Choose the appropriate person (I, you, he/she, we, you, they) and select the appropriate pronoun (je, tu, il/elle, nous, vous, ils).
  2. Conjugate the conditional of AVOIR (if the verb is conjugated with AVOIR in compound tenses such as the Passé Composé) or the PRESENT conditional of ÊTRE (if the verb is conjugated with ÊTRE).
  3. Add the PAST PARTICIPLE of the verb in question, eg “to give” becomes “donné.” (If the past participle comes from a verb conjugated with ÊTRE, it should agree in number & gender where necessary, but this rarely changes the sound).

Past Conditional of AVOIR verbs

Present Conditional of AVOIRPast ParticipleResultMeaningShort meaning
j’auraisdonnéj’aurais donnéI would have givenI’d have given
tu auraisdonnétu aurais donnéyou would have givenyou’d have given
il auraitdonnéil aurait donnéhe would have givenhe’d have given
nous aurionsdonnénous aurions donnéwe would have givenwe’d have given
vous auriezdonnévous auriez donnéyou would have givenyou’d have given
ils auraientdonnéils auraient donnéthey would have giventhey’d have given

Past Conditional of ÊTRE verbs

Present Conditional of ÊTREPast ParticipleResultMeaningShort meaning
je seraisarrivéje serais arrivéI would have arrivedI’d have arrived
tu seraisarrivétu serais arrivéyou would have arrivedyou’d have arrived
il seraitarrivéil serait arrivéhe would have arrivedhe’d have arrived
nous serionsarrivénous serions arrivéswe would have arrivedwe’d have arrived
vous seriezarrivévous seriez arrivésyou would have arrivedyou’d have arrived
ils seraientarrivéils seraient arrivésthey would have arrivedthey’d have arrived

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