French Verbs – Conditional Mood – Regular Verbs

In this lesson we learn how to create conditional mood for regular French verbs.

What is the conditional mood?

So far, all the verbs we have encountered have been in the indicative mood – which represents that the speaker is articulating a statement of fact. We have therefore studied the tenses in the indicative. But as well as tenses, verbs have moods – and the conditional mood is so called because it is based on the condition of something else.

In English, this is often conveyed by the word ‘would,’ as in “I would go,” or “I would play.” As you can see, these phrases suggest there is a condition to the statement, such as “I would go, if I had the time,” or “I would play but it is raining.” It is a future action that might take place.

How is the conditional mood formed in French?

The same applies to French. However, instead of using a word such as ‘would,’ the condition is expressed by using verb forms.

The good news, it is very similar to the future tense, as endings are added to the infinitive form of each verb. The endings are also familiar, as they are the same as those used for the imperfect tense. Therefore, the verbs are formed using the endings as follows:

Person	Ending
je	-ais
tu	–ais
il	-ait
elle	-ait
nous	-ions
vous	-iez
ils	-aient
elles	-aient

What is the French conditional mood of regular -er verbs, e.g. jouer (‘to play’)?

French	English
je jouerais	I would play
tu jouerais	you would play
il jouerait	he would play
elle jouerait	she would play
nous jouerions	we would play
vous joueriez	you would play
ils joueraient	they would play
elles joueraient	they would play

What is the French conditional mood of regular -ir verbs, e.g. finir (‘to finish’)?

French	English
je finirais	I would finish
tu finirais	you would finish
il finirait	he would finish
elle finirait	she would finish
nous finirions	we would finish
vous finiriez	you would finish
ils finiraient	they would finish
elles finiraient	they would finish

What is the French conditional mood of regular -re verbs, e.g. attendre (‘to wait’)?

Note that the ‘e’ is dropped from the end of the infinitive before the endings are applied, as follows:

French	English
j’attendrais	I would wait
tu attendrais	you would wait
il attendrait	he would wait
elle attendrait	she would wait
nous attendrions	we would wait
vous attendriez	you would wait
ils attendraient	they would wait
elles attendraient	they would wait

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