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 AVOIR	Past Participle	Result	Meaning	Short meaning
j’aurais	donné	j’aurais donné	I would have given	I’d have given
tu aurais	donné	tu aurais donné	you would have given	you’d have given
il aurait	donné	il aurait donné	he would have given	he’d have given
nous aurions	donné	nous aurions donné	we would have given	we’d have given
vous auriez	donné	vous auriez donné	you would have given	you’d have given
ils auraient	donné	ils auraient donné	they would have given	they’d have given

Past Conditional of ÊTRE verbs

Present Conditional of ÊTRE	Past Participle	Result	Meaning	Short meaning
je serais	arrivé	je serais arrivé	I would have arrived	I’d have arrived
tu serais	arrivé	tu serais arrivé	you would have arrived	you’d have arrived
il serait	arrivé	il serait arrivé	he would have arrived	he’d have arrived
nous serions	arrivé	nous serions arrivés	we would have arrived	we’d have arrived
vous seriez	arrivé	vous seriez arrivés	you would have arrived	you’d have arrived
ils seraient	arrivé	ils seraient arrivés	they would have arrived	they’d have arrived

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