GCSE · French · AQA · Spec 8652 · Higher
Conditional (H)
In English, 'would' is a word of its own. In French, there isn't one: 'would' is hidden in the verb's ending.
French · The conditional
'Would' lives in the ending
Tap any cell. In the regular verbs, the plain part is the whole infinitive, untouched, and only the coloured ending changes. Then switch to the four verbs that break the pattern.
Regular -er verbs — jouer = to play · parler = to speak
| jouer | parler | |
|---|---|---|
| je | jouerais | parlerais |
| tu | jouerais | parlerais |
| il / elle / on | jouerait | parlerait |
| nous | jouerions | parlerions |
| vous | joueriez | parleriez |
| ils / elles | joueraient | parleraient |
Notice what stays put: jouer and parler, the whole infinitive, in every row. Only the ending changes, and the ending is what means 'would'. So je jouerais = I would play and nous parlerions = we would speak. Every regular -er verb works like this.
Tap a cell to focus it. The coloured part is the ending. ★ marks a verb that swaps its infinitive for a short stem.
French · Spot the verb
Whose form is it?
Which verb does each form come from? Pick a form, then pick its verb.
Still to sort
avoir (have) (0)
Stem aur-
Where the line is: aur- keeps the a of avoir. Don't confuse it with ser- (être): 'would have' vs 'would be'.
faire (do / make) (0)
Stem fer-
Where the line is: fer- starts with the f of faire. Change that f to an s and you've got être.
aller (go) (0)
Stem ir-
Where the line is: ir- shares no letters with aller, so if a form looks like nothing at all, it's probably aller.
être (be) (0)
Stem ser-
Where the line is: ser- is être, not faire: serais = would be, ferais = would do.
A regular -er verb (0)
The whole infinitive is visible
Where the line is: If you can read a complete -er infinitive before the ending (jouer-, regarder-), it's a regular verb, not one of the four.
The short stems are easy to write but easy to mix up. Commit to an answer before you see the reason.
WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED
A quick recap of today's lesson.
One set of endings does the work of 'would', plus four short stems to know by heart.
What you need to know
- The conditional means 'would': je jouerais = I would play.
- Regular -er verbs keep the WHOLE infinitive and add an ending: jouer → jouerais, parler → parlerions.
- The endings are -ais (je), -ais (tu), -ait (il/elle/on), -ions (nous), -iez (vous), -aient (ils/elles).
- Four verbs use a short stem instead of the infinitive: aur- (avoir), fer- (faire), ir- (aller), ser- (être), giving aurais/aurait, ferais/ferait, irais/irait, serais/serait.
The big picture
The conditional is how French says 'would': I would play, we would go, it would be great. For a regular -er verb you keep the whole infinitive and add an ending, so jouer becomes je jouerais (I would play). The ending does the job of 'would' on its own, so there's no extra word to add. Four common verbs swap their infinitive for a short stem but keep the same endings: avoir gives aurais/aurait, faire gives ferais/ferait, aller gives irais/irait and être gives serais/serait.
Key points
Worked example
Problem
Translate into French: 'They would visit the museum.'
⚠ Watch out
Chopping the infinitive short: je jouais is a different tense and doesn't mean 'would'. Keep the whole infinitive: je jouerais.
Memory hook
Whole infinitive + ending for every regular -er verb. For the four rebels, think 'have, do, go, be' = aur-, fer-, ir-, ser-. And F is for faire, so the S one must be être.
Check yourself
Cover the tables and write 'I would have', 'I would do', 'I would go' and 'I would be' from memory. Then check: does your 'be' start with s and your 'do' with f?
Flashcards
(7)How do you form the conditional ('would') of a regular -er verb?
Conditional endings for je, tu and il/elle/on?
Conditional endings for nous, vous and ils/elles?
avoir in the conditional: 'I would have' / 'she would have'?
faire in the conditional: 'I would do/make' / 'he would do/make'?
aller in the conditional: 'I would go' / 'she would go'?
être in the conditional: 'I would be' / 'it would be'?
Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.
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