Question 1

Why does this sentence use the imperfect tense (voyais) instead of the conditional right after si?

Accepted Answer

In French, just like in English, we don't put the conditional tense right after the word si (if). For a hypothetical situation (the second conditional), the verb immediately following si must be in the imperfect tense (voyais). The conditional tense is reserved for the result part of the sentence (ce serait).

Question 2

Why do we use ce serait instead of il serait for 'it would be'?

Accepted Answer

Because the verb être (to be) is followed by a noun phrase that includes an article (un animal inconnu). The classic rule that forces you to use c'est instead of il est before a determiner plus a noun applies across all tenses, so it becomes ce serait in the conditional.

Question 3

How do you form the conditional verb serait?

Accepted Answer

To form the conditional, you typically take the future stem of a verb and add the imperfect endings. The verb être is irregular, so its conditional stem is ser-. We then add the third-person singular imperfect ending -ait to match the pronoun ce, giving us serait.

Question 4

Why is the adjective inconnu placed after animal?

Accepted Answer

In French, most adjectives are placed immediately after the noun they describe. Only a specific handful of very common adjectives (often memorized using the BANGS acronym for Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, Size) come before the noun. Because inconnu (unknown) doesn't fall into those categories, it safely follows the standard rule.

Si tu voyais un extraterrestre, ce serait un animal inconnu.

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