Learn French: J'aurais saisi l'opportunité. - I would have seized the opportunity.

J'aurais saisi l'opportunité.

I would have seized the opportunity.

Breakdown of J'aurais saisi l'opportunité.

Questions & Answers about J'aurais saisi l'opportunité.

How do we know aurais saisi is the past conditional?

The past conditional is a compound tense. It is built by taking the auxiliary verb (in this case, avoir) and conjugating it in the present conditional to get j'aurais (I would have). Then, you add the past participle of your main verb, saisi (seized).

Why does saisir use avoir as its auxiliary verb here instead of être?

In compound tenses like the past conditional, most French verbs use avoir. You only use être for reflexive verbs and a specific group of verbs related to movement or a change of state, like aller or tomber. Since saisir (to seize) is neither, it takes avoir.

How do we form the past participle saisi?

Saisir is a regular -ir verb. To form the past participle of regular -ir verbs, you simply drop the -ir infinitive ending and replace it with -i.

Could the past participle saisi ever need an extra -e or -s at the end?