French/Grammar/Tenses/Present conditional

Usage of the conditional (present)
The conditional tense is used when:
 * a hypothetical situation is described. In which case the structure "Si + l'imparfait, le conditionnel" is used.
 * e.g. If I saw (or If I were to see) her, I would not recognize her. - Si je la voyais, je ne la reconnaîtrais pas.


 * a polite request needs to be made:
 * e.g. I would like a small salad, please. - Je voudrais (or J'aimerais) une petite salade, s'il vous plaît.


 * an event that had not happened was described:
 * e.g. He said Marie would come. - Il a dit que Marie viendrait.

Conditional stems

 * For (regular and irregular) -er or -ir verbs, the infinitive is the conditional stem.
 * For (regular and irregular) -re verbs, the infinitive minus the final e is the conditional stem.
 * Exception: verbs that are stem-changing in the present are stem-changing in the conditional also.
 * Exception: certain irregular verbs (but not all) have irregular conditional stems.
 * Note: in a word, the conditional stem is the same with the future one.

Stem changes

Irregular stems

Conditional endings

 * To conjugate in the conditional, add the appropriate ending to the future stem.

Francés/Gramática/El verbo/Tiempos/Le conditionnel présent