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Futur Conditionnel

 

 

• The use of the future and conditional in French is very similar to English. The future tense allows you to talk about what will happen at some future time. Note that unlike English, this verb tense has only one word, not two.

 

Ex. Ma famille partira en Argentine demain.

 

• The conditional expresses what could, might, or would happen if a certain condition existed. This tense also has only one word in French, whereas in English it has two.

 

Ex. Si je gagnais assez d’argent, j’achèterais un chalet à Chamonix.

 

 

• The simple future and present conditional are formed by adding the following endings to the stem of the verb. This stem is the infinitive or a modified form of the infinitive.

 

Future

 

Je   -ai        Nous   -ons

Tu -as       Vous    -ez

il/on -a     Ils        -ont

 

 

Conditional

-ais            -ions

-ais            -iez

-ait                        -aient

 

 

• Even though the endings are different, the stems remain the same.

 

• Verbs whose infinitive ends in –er: the infinitive is used in most cases.

 

Ex. Nous nous amuserons sur la Côte d’Azur. (future)

 

• EXCEPTIONS: aller stem is ir- and envoyer stem is enverr-

 

• Verbs whose infinitive ends in –ir: the infinitive is used in most cases.

 

Ex. Elles partiront ce soir. (future)

 

• EXCEPTIONS: devenir/tenir/venir: stems deviendr-, tiendr-, viendr- , courir/mourir= courr/mourr

 

• Verbs whose infinitive ends in –re: the future and conditional stems are formed by dropping the e from the infinitive.

 

Ex. Je prendrai le pour Paris. (future)

 

• EXCEPTIONS: être stem is ser-, faire stem is fer-

 

• Verbs whose infinitives end in –oir change in a variety of ways. Some of the most common of these verbs and their stems are:

 

avoir: aur-    devoir: devr-   falloir: faudr-   pouvoir: pourr-

savoir: saur-      valoir: vaudr-     voir: verr-    vouloir: voudr-

 

 

Simple future

 

• The future tense is used to speak about events that are expected to happen in the future, in the same way that the future tense is used in English.

 

Ex. Quand serons-nous de retour?

 

• Unlike English (where the present tense is used), French requires the future tense after certain conjunctions when you are talking about the future. These conjunctions are:

 

quand/lorsque (when), dés que/ aussitôt que (as soon as), tant que (as long as)

 

• In French, as in English, the verb aller + infinitive means that the future event is more likely to happen or will happen sooner. The simple future suggests a more distant time in the future and some-what more uncertainty about the events.

 

Ex. Un jour, des touristes visiteront la lune.

 

 

 

Present conditional

 

• The conditional can be used to express politeness by softening or attenuating a request, a command, or a suggestion. The verbs vouloir, pouvoir, savoir, and devoir are often used in the conditional in this context.

 

Ex. Je voudrais connaître vos projets.

 

• The conditional is also used in a conjuncture or a hypothesis in the future or present, to express a possibility, something that might or could happen. Often it is accompanied by a subordinate clause (either before or after) in which a condition is stated.

 

Ex. Nous ferions la grasse matinée si nous ne devions pas travailler.

 

• When you are reporting what someone else has said (indirect speech) about a future event, and the statement was made in the past, the conditional replaces the future in the part you are indirectly quoting.