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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:

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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:

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The present conditional (-rais, -rait...)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular 'to be' and indefinite articles (je suis un...)

Singular definite articles (le, la, l')

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Question	Answer
the society	la société
ideal	idéal
We would live in an ideal society.	Nous vivrions dans une société idéale.
the peace	la paix
the equality (f)	l'égalité
It would be a society where peace and equality exist.	Ce serait une société où la paix et l'égalité existeraient.
to govern	gouverner
How would you govern this ideal world?	Comment est-ce que vous gouverneriez ce monde idéal ?
fair	équitable
the respect	le respect
A fair leader would govern the world with respect.	Un chef équitable gouvernerait le monde avec respect.
the poverty	la pauvreté
There would be no poverty in our society.	Il n'y aurait pas de pauvreté dans notre société.
the conflict	le conflit
We would share everything without conflict.	Nous partagerions tout sans conflit.
the freedom	la liberté
Freedom and peace would be very important.	La liberté et la paix seraient très importantes.
Everyone would have the right to respect and freedom.	Tout le monde aurait droit au respect et à la liberté.
A fair law would protect equality.	Une loi équitable protégerait l'égalité.
How would you avoid poverty?	Comment est-ce que tu éviterais la pauvreté ?
In our ideal world, a conflict would not exist.	Dans notre monde idéal, un conflit n'existerait pas.

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