How to Teach the French Present Conditional – A French Teacher’s Guide

When I teach the French present conditional, I start with the meaning because students can make sense of the tense much more easily when they connect it to familiar English words would, should, and could.

The present conditional is used to express what someone would do, should do, or could do. I then show students how straightforward the formation can be. Use the infinitive or conditional stem and add the imperfect endings.

French Present Conditional – Irregular Stems + Formation Foldable Handout Book

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Start with What the Conditional Means

I begin by connecting the French conditional to the English words students already know.

The present conditional can express:

Would do something

Use the main verb in the conditional.

Should do something

Use devoir in the conditional + infinitive.

Could do something

Use pouvoir in the conditional + infinitive.

This gives students a useful starting point before we get into the actual verb endings.

For example:

Je voyagerais en Espagne.
I would travel to Spain.

Je devrais voyager.
I should travel.

Je pourrais voyager.
I could travel.

I want students to understand that the conditional often expresses something that depends on a certain condition.

Explain the Connection with English

I point out that the basic idea is very similar in English.

If I say:

I would travel to Spain.

I’m not saying that I definitely will travel to Spain. I’m describing something that would happen under a certain condition.

This becomes especially clear when we use the conditional in an if…then sentence.

For example:

Si je pouvais, je voyagerais en Espagne.
If I could, I would travel to Spain.

The condition comes first:

Si je pouvais
If I could

And the result uses the conditional:

je voyagerais
I would travel

This is the pattern students will see frequently when using the French conditional.

Teach the Formation

Once students understand what the conditional means, I show them how to form it.

For most verbs, we use the infinitive and add the imperfect endings.

The endings are:

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

I point out that these are exactly the same endings students have already seen with the imperfect.

This is a helpful connection because students don’t have to learn a completely new set of endings.

The pattern is:

stem + imperfect ending

For example:

voyager

je voyagerais
tu voyagerais
il voyagerait
nous voyagerions
vous voyageriez
ils voyageraient

Practice with Regular Verbs

I start with regular verbs so students can concentrate on the endings.

With voyager, students can see the pattern clearly:

Si je pouvais, je voyagerais en Espagne.
If I could, I would travel to Spain.

Si nous voulions, nous voyagerions ensemble.
If we wanted to, we would travel together.

Si tu avais beaucoup d’argent, tu voyagerais partout.
If you had a lot of money, you would travel everywhere.

Si vous preniez le temps, vous voyageriez plus souvent.
If you took the time, you would travel more often.

S’il habitait en France, il voyagerait en Allemagne.
If he lived in France, he would travel to Germany.

S’ils parlaient espagnol, ils voyageraient en Espagne.
If they spoke Spanish, they would travel to Spain.

I have students identify the conditional verb in each sentence and then identify the subject and ending.

Practice Different Types of Verbs

After students are comfortable with one regular verb, I introduce other verbs.

For example, with partir:

À ta place, je partirais un peu en avance.
If I were you, I would leave a little early.

Si tu vivais au Canada, nous partirions te voir.
If you lived in Canada, we would come to see you.

Est-ce que tu partirais sans moi ?
Would you leave without me?

Si vous gagniez un million de dollars, partiriez-vous en voyage ?
If you won a million dollars, would you leave on a trip?

S’il m’aimait, il partirait avec moi.
If he loved me, he would leave with me.

S’ils n’étaient pas contents, ils partiraient.
If they weren’t happy, they would leave.

I like using questions here because students see that the conditional isn’t limited to si clauses.

Use Prendre to Show the Pattern with -RE Verbs

I also use prendre to show students how the conditional works with an -RE verb.

The final -e of the infinitive is removed before adding the imperfect endings:

prendre → prendr-

Then:

je prendrais
tu prendrais
il prendrait
nous prendrions
vous prendriez
ils prendraient

For example:

Je prendrais un parapluie s’il pleuvait.
I would take an umbrella if it were raining.

Nous prendrions l’avion si nous étions pressés.
We would take the plane if we were in a hurry.

Qu’est-ce que tu prendrais si tu n’avais pas très faim ?
What would you take if you weren’t very hungry?

Vous prendriez une salade si vous étiez au régime.
You would have a salad if you were on a diet.

Il prendrait quelque chose à boire s’il avait soif.
He would have something to drink if he were thirsty.

S’ils n’avaient pas de voiture, ils prendraient le métro.
If they didn’t have a car, they would take the metro.

Make the Connection with the Imperfect

This is a good point to remind students that the conditional endings are the imperfect endings.

I have students compare the endings they already know from the imperfect with what they’re seeing in the conditional.

The important difference is the stem.

For most verbs, the conditional uses the infinitive as its stem, and then the imperfect endings are added.

This gives students a useful memory aid:

Conditional = infinitive/stem + imperfect endings

Introduce the Irregular Conditional Stems

Once students have the regular formation down, I introduce the irregular stems.

The good news is that students have already seen these stems if they’ve studied the futur simple.

The irregular conditional stems are the same as the irregular stems used for the simple future. The endings are still the same imperfect endings.

Some of the most common ones include:

aller → ir-
avoir → aur-
courir → courr-
devoir → devr-
envoyer → enverr-
être → ser-
faire → fer-
falloir → faudr-
mourir → mourr-
obtenir → obtiendr-
pleuvoir → pleuvr-
pouvoir → pourr-
recevoir → recevr-
savoir → saur-
tenir → tiendr-
venir → viendr-
voir → verr-
vouloir → voudr-

I tell students that this is one reason learning the future and conditional together can be helpful. The irregular stems are the same; the endings tell us which tense we’re using.

Focus on Devoir and Pouvoir

I make sure students get plenty of practice with devoir and pouvoir because these two verbs are particularly useful for expressing should and could.

For devoir:

je devrais = I should

tu devrais = you should

il devrait = he should

For pouvoir:

je pourrais = I could

tu pourrais = you could

il pourrait = he could

Students can then add an infinitive:

Je devrais partir.
I should leave.

Tu devrais étudier.
You should study.

Je pourrais venir.
I could come.

Nous pourrions voyager.
We could travel.

This is a useful way to show students that the conditional is not only about hypothetical if…then sentences.

Practice the Conditional in Si Clauses

This is where I bring everything together.

Students will frequently encounter the present conditional in si clauses, particularly in the second conditional pattern.

The basic structure is:

Si + imperfect → conditional

For example:

Si je pouvais, je voyagerais en Espagne.
If I could, I would travel to Spain.

Si nous voulions, nous voyagerions ensemble.
If we wanted to, we would travel together.

Si tu avais beaucoup d’argent, tu voyagerais partout.
If you had a lot of money, you would travel everywhere.

I have students identify the two tenses:

Si je pouvais → imperfect
je voyagerais → conditional

This helps reinforce both tenses at the same time.

Give Students Questions to Answer

Questions are especially useful for getting students to use the conditional naturally.

For example:

Est-ce que tu partirais sans moi ?
Would you leave without me?

Qu’est-ce que tu prendrais si tu n’avais pas très faim ?
What would you have if you weren’t very hungry?

Si vous gagniez un million de dollars, partiriez-vous en voyage ?
If you won a million dollars, would you go on a trip?

I have students answer these questions with complete sentences whenever possible.

For example:

Est-ce que tu partirais sans moi ?

Non, je ne partirais pas sans toi.

This gives them practice with the conditional in a meaningful context rather than simply conjugating verbs.

Have Students Create Their Own Sentences

Once students are comfortable with the formation, I have them create their own sentences using the conditional.

I might give them a beginning such as:

Si j’avais beaucoup d’argent,…

Si je pouvais voyager n’importe où,…

Si j’habitais en France,…

À ta place,…

Then they complete the sentence with a conditional verb.

This gives students practice with both the grammar and the meaning of the tense.

By this point, I want them to recognize that the conditional is a very useful tense for talking about what someone would, could, or should do.

Bring the Formation and Meaning Together

The most important things I want students to remember are simple:

The French present conditional often corresponds to would, could, or should in English.

The endings are the imperfect endings:

-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient

Most verbs use the infinitive as the stem, with the exception of -RE verbs, which drop the final -e.

And the irregular conditional stems are the same ones used in the simple future.

Once students have these pieces in place, they can start using the conditional in both hypothetical sentences and everyday expressions such as je voudrais, je pourrais, and je devrais.