Les Trois Types de Si: drilling | French Grammar

French conditional sentences with si come in three types, each pairing a specific tense in the si-clause with a specific tense in the main clause. Once you learn the three pairings, you can express any conditional thought in French — from the everyday if you want, we'll go to the regretful if I had known, I would have come. This page gives you the complete system, with enough examples to drill the pairings until they become reflex.

The architecture in one table

Type	Si-clause	Main clause	Meaning
Real / probable	présent	futur (or présent or impératif)	likely real condition
Hypothetical present/future	imparfait	conditionnel présent	imagined, unlikely or counterfactual present
Counterfactual past	plus-que-parfait	conditionnel passé	past situation that didn't happen

Two iron rules govern all three types:

The si-clause never takes the futur or the conditionnel. Si repels these tenses. The traditional teaching mnemonic is Les si n'aiment pas les -rais — si doesn't like the -rais endings of the conditionnel. This is one of the most stigmatized errors in French.
The main clause uses one of three tenses only: futur, conditionnel présent, conditionnel passé. (The exception is Type 1 with a present or imperative main clause for immediate consequences.)

If you internalize these two rules, you cannot go far wrong.

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The reason for "no futur or conditionnel after si" is historical: the suffix -rai / -rais derives from the verb avoir fused onto an infinitive, and si historically introduced a real or factual situation, not a future projection. Modern French preserves this old constraint as a hard grammatical rule.

Type 1: real / probable conditions

Use Type 1 when the condition is realistic — something that may well happen, or that always happens under certain circumstances. Pattern: si + présent, main clause in futur (or présent or impératif).

Si tu viens samedi, on ira au cinéma.

If you come Saturday, we'll go to the movies.

S'il pleut demain, je resterai à la maison.

If it rains tomorrow, I'll stay home.

Si tu as faim, il y a des restes dans le frigo.

If you're hungry, there are leftovers in the fridge.

Si tu vois Pierre, dis-lui de m'appeler.

If you see Pierre, tell him to call me.

The third example uses the présent in the main clause: this works when the consequence is already true, or true as a general rule. The fourth uses the impératif for an immediate instruction.

The same pattern handles general truths and habitual conditions:

Si on chauffe l'eau à cent degrés, elle bout.

If you heat water to one hundred degrees, it boils.

Si je ne bois pas mon café le matin, je suis insupportable.

If I don't have my coffee in the morning, I'm unbearable.

Note that si + présent covers conditions about the future, even though in English we use if you come (present) for both Type 1 and other meanings. French keeps the si-clause in the present and pushes the futur into the main clause.

Si tu termines tes devoirs avant huit heures, on pourra regarder un film.

If you finish your homework before eight, we can watch a movie.

The classic learner trap: quand + futur is correct (quand tu viendras), but si + futur is wrong. Both translate as English when/if you come, but French uses different tenses:

Quand tu viendras, on parlera de tout ça.

When you come, we'll talk about all that. (futur after quand)

Si tu viens, on parlera de tout ça.

If you come, we'll talk about all that. (présent after si)

Type 2: hypothetical present or future

Use Type 2 when you are imagining something — something that is not the case, or that is unlikely. Pattern: si + imparfait, main clause in conditionnel présent.

Si j'avais le temps, je viendrais te voir plus souvent.

If I had time, I'd come see you more often.

Si j'étais riche, j'achèterais une maison au bord de la mer.

If I were rich, I'd buy a house by the sea.

S'il pleuvait moins, on pourrait aller pique-niquer.

If it rained less, we could go on a picnic.

The imparfait here doesn't refer to the past — it signals unreality. This is the same imparfait that appears in si seulement j'avais le temps (if only I had time). The condition exists in your imagination, not in fact.

Type 2 is the workhorse for daydreaming, polite requests, and counterfactual thought experiments:

Qu'est-ce que tu ferais si tu gagnais au loto ?

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Si tu étais à ma place, tu prendrais quelle décision ?

If you were in my shoes, what decision would you make?

Ça serait sympa si tu pouvais m'accompagner.

It would be nice if you could come with me.

The être trap. Subjunctive-flavored English idiom if I were maps to imparfait si j'étais, not to a subjunctive. French has no special "were-form" for hypotheticals — just the regular imparfait.

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For polite requests, French also uses Type 2 alone — without an explicit si-clause: Je voudrais un café (I'd like a coffee) is grammatically a half-conditional. The implied si-clause is something like si c'était possible (if it were possible).

Type 2 with future meaning

Type 2 covers hypothetical futures as well as hypothetical presents. The imparfait does not pin you to either time-frame; context decides.

Si Marie venait demain, on serait six à table.

If Marie came tomorrow, we'd be six at the table.

Here venait is an imagined future. The choice of Type 2 over Type 1 signals doubt — Marie probably won't come.

Type 3: counterfactual past

Use Type 3 when the condition refers to a past situation that did not happen. Pattern: si + plus-que-parfait, main clause in conditionnel passé.

Si tu étais venu hier, on aurait pu en discuter ensemble.

If you had come yesterday, we could have discussed it together.

Si j'avais su, je serais resté chez moi.

If I had known, I would have stayed home.

Si elle avait étudié plus, elle aurait réussi son examen.

If she had studied more, she would have passed her exam.

Both the condition and the consequence are firmly in the past, and both are unrealized. You didn't come, so we didn't discuss. I didn't know, so I went out. The Type 3 structure is the dedicated grammatical machinery for past regret.

Many of the most expressive uses of Type 3 omit the main clause altogether, leaving the consequence implied:

Ah, si j'avais su !

Ah, if I had known!

Si seulement nous étions partis plus tôt...

If only we had left earlier...

The unspoken main clause hangs in the air — I would have done things differently is so obvious it doesn't need saying. This is one of French's most economical ways to express regret.

Mixed conditionals

Real life sometimes mixes timeframes. A condition can be in one timeframe and its consequence in another, in which case you mix tenses across types.

Type 3 condition, Type 2 result (past condition, present consequence)

Si tu avais étudié plus à l'université, tu aurais un meilleur travail aujourd'hui.

If you had studied more in college, you'd have a better job today.

Si nous avions acheté cet appartement il y a dix ans, nous serions riches maintenant.

If we had bought that apartment ten years ago, we'd be rich now.

The si-clause uses the plus-que-parfait (past unreality), but the main clause uses the conditionnel présent because the consequence is in the present.

Type 2 condition, Type 3 result (timeless condition, past consequence)

Si j'étais médecin, j'aurais pu sauver Pierre.

If I were a doctor, I could have saved Pierre.

Si tu étais plus prudent, tu n'aurais pas eu cet accident.

If you were more careful, you wouldn't have had that accident.

Here the condition expresses an enduring trait (if I were a doctor, if you were more careful), and the consequence is a specific past event.

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Mixed conditionals are common in everyday French. Don't think of the three types as rigid templates — think of them as a kit of parts you can recombine.

How French differs from English

The three-type system is broadly parallel between French and English:

Type	French	English
1	Si tu viens, j'irai.	If you come, I'll go.
2	Si tu venais, j'irais.	If you came, I would go.
3	Si tu étais venu, je serais allé.	If you had come, I would have gone.

The morphology lines up: both languages use a past form in the si-clause for hypothetical, and a past-perfect form for counterfactual. Would maps to the conditionnel.

The differences:

The "si never with futur or conditionnel" rule is non-negotiable in French. English colloquially permits if I would have known — French does not. Si j'aurais su is one of the most grammatically marked errors a French speaker can make; it is a shibboleth for low education.
Type 1 forces different tenses. English uses present in both clauses (if it rains, I stay home) or present + future (if it rains, I'll stay home); French maps these to si + présent
- futur / présent.
Imparfait is broader than English past. English if I were rich uses an old subjunctive form; French uses the ordinary imparfait si j'étais riche. There is no special form.

Common Mistakes

❌ Si je serais riche, j'achèterais une maison.

Incorrect — si never takes the conditionnel. The cardinal sin of French conditionals.

✅ Si j'étais riche, j'achèterais une maison.

If I were rich, I'd buy a house.

❌ Si tu viendras demain, je serai content.

Incorrect — si never takes the futur. Use présent.

✅ Si tu viens demain, je serai content.

If you come tomorrow, I'll be happy.

❌ Si j'aurais su, je serais venu.

Incorrect — for counterfactual past, the si-clause needs plus-que-parfait, not conditionnel passé.

✅ Si j'avais su, je serais venu.

If I had known, I would have come.

❌ Si tu étudies plus, tu réussirais.

Incorrect — Type 1 si + présent must be paired with futur, not conditionnel présent.

✅ Si tu étudies plus, tu réussiras.

If you study more, you'll succeed. (Type 1)

✅ Si tu étudiais plus, tu réussirais.

If you studied more, you would succeed. (Type 2)

❌ Si Marie était venue, on serait six à table.

Wrong type — for an imagined future situation, use Type 2 (imparfait + conditionnel présent).

✅ Si Marie venait, on serait six à table.

If Marie came, we'd be six at the table.

Drill: convert between types

Try shifting these sentences across all three types as a self-test. The condition stays the same; the imagined likelihood changes.

Type 1 : Si tu m'écoutes, tu apprends quelque chose.

If you listen to me, you learn something.

Type 2 : Si tu m'écoutais, tu apprendrais quelque chose.

If you listened to me, you'd learn something.

Type 3 : Si tu m'avais écouté, tu aurais appris quelque chose.

If you'd listened to me, you'd have learned something.

The Type 1 version states a habit. The Type 2 version implies you don't listen. The Type 3 version says you didn't listen on a specific past occasion. The same condition shifts in modality across the three types.

Key takeaways

Three pairings: si + présent
- futur, si + imparfait
  - conditionnel présent, si + plus-que-parfait
    - conditionnel passé.
The si-clause never takes futur or conditionnel.
Mixed conditionals are common: pair a Type 3 condition with a Type 2 result, or vice versa, to handle cross-time relationships.
Type 1 is real, Type 2 is hypothetical, Type 3 is counterfactual past — drill the difference until automatic.

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