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S'il allégeait son sac, il se débarrasserait du bazar.

S'il allégeait son sac, il se débarrasserait du bazar.
If he lightened his bag, he would get rid of the clutter.
From Lesson 195:Expressing 'only' (ne... que)·French

Questions & Answers about S'il allégeait son sac, il se débarrasserait du bazar.

Why does this sentence use the imperfect (allégeait) and the conditional (débarrasserait)?
This is a classic hypothetical si (if) clause. When talking about an unreal or unlikely situation in the present or future, French uses the pattern: si + imperfect tense -> conditional tense. It perfectly matches the English structure: "If he did [imperfect], he would do [conditional]."
Why is there an extra 'e' in allégeait after the 'g'?
The verb is alléger (to lighten). To keep the soft "zh" sound of the 'g' before the letter 'a' in the imperfect ending (-ait), an 'e' must be added. Without it, allégait would be pronounced with a hard "g" (like in the English word "go").
Why is it du bazar instead of just le bazar?
The reflexive verb se débarrasser (to get rid of) always requires the preposition de. Because bazar (clutter/mess) is masculine, the preposition de and the definite article le must contract into du. You can never say de le.
The current lesson is about ne... que (only). How would I say "He would only get rid of the clutter"?
You would put ne before the reflexive pronoun and que right before the restricted thing (du bazar). The sentence would become: S'il allégeait son sac, il ne se débarrasserait que du bazar.

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