Present French Conditional – Could, Should, Would

Present French Conditional – Could, Should, Would

The French present conditional is used to express what someone would do, could do, or should do.

Just as in English, the conditional can describe something that would happen under certain circumstances. It is also used to make polite requests, express wishes, and give advice.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to form the French present conditional, use it with regular and irregular verbs, and express could, should, and would in French.

You can download a free PDF of this lesson guide in my private French Grammar Library.

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1. How to Use the French Present Conditional

There are three important patterns to learn:

English	French construction	Example
WOULD do something	Main verb in the conditional	J’apprendrais le français.
COULD do something	POUVOIR in the conditional + infinitive	Je pourrais apprendre le français.
SHOULD do something	DEVOIR in the conditional + infinitive	Je devrais apprendre le français.

Let’s look at these three examples in context.

WOULD – Use the main verb in the conditional

Si j’étais en France, j’apprendrais le français.

If I were in France, I would learn French.

The verb APPRENDRE is conjugated in the conditional.

COULD – Use POUVOIR in the conditional + infinitive

Si j’étais en France, je pourrais apprendre le français.

If I were in France, I could learn French.

The verb POUVOIR is conjugated in the conditional and followed by the infinitive APPRENDRE.

SHOULD – Use DEVOIR in the conditional + infinitive

Je devrais apprendre le français.

I should learn French.

The verb DEVOIR is conjugated in the conditional and followed by the infinitive APPRENDRE.

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2. How to Form the French Present Conditional

To form the conditional of most regular verbs, use the infinitive as your stem and add the imperfect endings.

For verbs ending in -RE, remove the final E before adding the endings.

Here are some examples:

Infinitive	Conditional stem	Je form	English
parler	parler-	je parlerais	I would speak
finir	finir-	je finirais	I would finish
vendre	vendr-	je vendrais	I would sell

The conditional endings are exactly the same as the endings used in the imperfect tense.

French Conditional Endings Chart

Subject	Ending
Je	-ais
Tu	-ais
Il / Elle / On	-ait
Nous	-ions
Vous	-iez
Ils / Elles	-aient

For example, here is the complete conjugation of PARLER in the present conditional:

French	English
Je parlerais	I would speak
Tu parlerais	You would speak
Il / Elle / On parlerait	He / She would speak
Nous parlerions	We would speak
Vous parleriez	You would speak
Ils / Elles parleraient	They would speak

Remember: The conditional endings are the same as the imperfect endings. The difference is the stem: the conditional generally uses the infinitive, while the imperfect uses the present-tense NOUS form minus -ONS.

You can review the French imperfect tense to learn more about these endings.

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3. Common French Verbs with Irregular Conditional Stems

Some French verbs have irregular stems in the conditional. These are the same irregular stems used in the futur simple.

You will need to learn these stems because they do not follow the regular infinitive pattern.

Infinitive	Conditional stem	Conditional example	English
aller	ir-	j’irais	I would go
avoir	aur-	j’aurais	I would have
courir	courr-	je courrais	I would run
devoir	devr-	je devrais	I should / would have to
envoyer	enverr-	j’enverrais	I would send
être	ser-	je serais	I would be
faire	fer-	je ferais	I would do / make
falloir	faudr-	il faudrait	It would be necessary
mourir	mourr-	je mourrais	I would die
obtenir	obtiendr-	j’obtiendrais	I would obtain
pleuvoir	pleuvr-	il pleuvrait	It would rain
pouvoir	pourr-	je pourrais	I could / would be able to
recevoir	recevr-	je recevrais	I would receive
savoir	saur-	je saurais	I would know
tenir	tiendr-	je tiendrais	I would hold
venir	viendr-	je viendrais	I would come
voir	verr-	je verrais	I would see
vouloir	voudr-	je voudrais	I would want

Important: The column above gives you the conditional form for JE, except for FALLOIR and PLEUVOIR, which are used impersonally with IL.

The irregular stems are the same ones used to form the futur simple. Only the endings change.

You can review the French futur simple and its irregular stems for another way to practice these verbs.

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4. How to Say Could in French

To express could do something, use the conditional form of POUVOIR followed by an infinitive.

The construction is:

POUVOIR IN THE CONDITIONAL + INFINITIVE

Here is the complete conjugation of POUVOIR:

French	English
Je pourrais	I could
Tu pourrais	You could
Il / Elle / On pourrait	He / She could
Nous pourrions	We could
Vous pourriez	You could
Ils / Elles pourraient	They could

Examples:

French	English
Je pourrais apprendre le français.	I could learn French.
Tu pourrais venir avec nous.	You could come with us.
Elle pourrait nous aider.	She could help us.
Nous pourrions aller au cinéma.	We could go to the movies.
Vous pourriez prendre le train.	You could take the train.
Ils pourraient rester ici.	They could stay here.

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5. How to Say Should in French

To express should do something, use the conditional form of DEVOIR followed by an infinitive.

The construction is:

DEVOIR IN THE CONDITIONAL + INFINITIVE

Here is the complete conjugation of DEVOIR:

French	English
Je devrais	I should
Tu devrais	You should
Il / Elle / On devrait	He / She should
Nous devrions	We should
Vous devriez	You should
Ils / Elles devraient	They should

Examples:

French	English
Je devrais apprendre le français.	I should learn French.
Tu devrais étudier davantage.	You should study more.
Elle devrait appeler sa mère.	She should call her mother.
Nous devrions partir maintenant.	We should leave now.
Vous devriez prendre un taxi.	You should take a taxi.
Ils devraient faire attention.	They should be careful.

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6. How to Say Would in French

To express would do something, conjugate the main verb in the conditional.

You do not need to use POUVOIR or DEVOIR unless you want to express could or should.

For example, here is the verb APPRENDRE in the conditional:

French	English
J’apprendrais	I would learn
Tu apprendrais	You would learn
Il / Elle apprendrait	He / She would learn
Nous apprendrions	We would learn
Vous apprendriez	You would learn
Ils / Elles apprendraient	They would learn

Here are some examples:

French	English
J’apprendrais le français si j’avais le temps.	I would learn French if I had the time.
Tu aimerais cette ville.	You would like this city.
Elle voyagerait davantage si elle avait plus de vacances.	She would travel more if she had more vacation time.
Nous habiterions en France si nous le pouvions.	We would live in France if we could.
Vous comprendriez mieux avec un peu de pratique.	You would understand better with a little practice.
Ils viendraient avec nous s’ils étaient libres.	They would come with us if they were free.

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7. Remember the Difference Between Could, Should, and Would

These three English words do not follow exactly the same pattern in French.

English	French construction	Example
Would do	Main verb in the conditional	Je parlerais.
Could do	POUVOIR in the conditional + infinitive	Je pourrais parler.
Should do	DEVOIR in the conditional + infinitive	Je devrais parler.

Remember these three patterns:

• Je parlerais = I would speak.
• Je pourrais parler = I could speak.
• Je devrais parler = I should speak.

Once you recognize these patterns, you can use the conditional with many different French verbs.

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ASTUCE DE JENNIFER

The present conditional is easier to form when you remember two things:

1. Regular verbs use the infinitive as their stem, with the imperfect endings.
2. Irregular conditional stems are the same as irregular futur simple stems.

Learn the irregular stems a few at a time, and practice using POUVOIR and DEVOIR with infinitives to express could and should.

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Video Lesson – Present French Conditional: Could, Should, Would