To talk about hypothetical situations, dreams, or things you would do—like imagining a perfect utopian society—French uses the conditionnel présent (present conditional).
Forming the Present Conditional
The present conditional is built by combining two pieces you already know: the stem of the futur simple and the endings of the imparfait.
- Stem: The future stem. For most verbs, this is simply the full infinitive. For verbs ending in -re (like vivre), drop the final "e". Irregular future stems remain irregular here (for example, être becomes ser- and avoir becomes aur-).
- Endings: Add the imperfect endings to your stem: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
| Pronoun | Ending | Gouverner (to govern) | Être (to be) |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | -ais | je gouvernerais | je serais |
| tu | -ais | tu gouvernerais | tu serais |
| il / elle / on | -ait | il gouvernerait | il serait |
| nous | -ions | nous gouvernerions | nous serions |
| vous | -iez | vous gouverneriez | vous seriez |
| ils / elles | -aient | ils gouverneraient | ils seraient |
Now let's see this mood in action to imagine an ideal society:
| We would live in an ideal society. | Nous vivrions dans une société idéale. |
| It would be a society where peace and equality exist. | Ce serait une société où la paix et l'égalité existeraient. |
| A fair leader would govern the world with respect. | Un chef équitable gouvernerait le monde avec respect. |
| There would be no poverty in our society. | Il n'y aurait pas de pauvreté dans notre société. |
Notice how the regular verbs (gouverner, exister) use their full infinitives, the -re verb (vivre) drops its "e", and the irregular verbs (être, avoir) use their special future stems.
You can use this grammar to discuss how you would structure an ideal world, sharing resources and avoiding poverty:
| We would share everything without conflict. | Nous partagerions tout sans conflit. |
| Everyone would have the right to respect and freedom. | Tout le monde aurait droit au respect et à la liberté. |
| How would you avoid poverty? | Comment est-ce que tu éviterais la pauvreté ? |
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