The conditional is a mood, which means that it serves to express the attitude or impression of the speaker. The present conditional is used in three main contexts:
1) With certain verbs to indicate politeness:
Je voudrais la carte, s'il vous plaît. (I would like the menu, please.)2) To express "the future of the past." Compare the regular future (as used in direct discourse) with the future of the past (used in indirect discourse):
Auriez-vous deux minutes? (Would you have a couple of minutes?)
Direct discourse: Elle a dit, "je viendrai à la fête." (She said, "I will come to the party.")3) In si constructions expressing possible or hypothetical situations. These sentences follow a relatively inflexible pattern entailing a "si-clause" and a "result clause":
Indirect discourse: Elle a dit qu'elle viendrait à la fête. (She said she would come to the party.)
"Si + imperfect" followed by "present conditional"
Si j'avais le temps, je ferais mes devoirs. (If I had the time, I would do my homework.)
Descriptive
French Grammar
French
Language Main Page
Modern
Romance Languages
Main Page
Orbis Latinus Main
Page
This page is part of Orbis
Latinus
© Zdravko Batzarov
