Breakdown of S'ils l'avaient condamné, la peine aurait été terrible.
être
to be
ils
they (masculine/mixed)
avoir
to have
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
terrible
terrible
si
if
condamner
to convict
la peine
the sentence (punishment)
Questions & Answers about S'ils l'avaient condamné, la peine aurait été terrible.
How does the grammar of the 'if' clause work in this sentence?
This sentence uses the Third Conditional to talk about an impossible situation in the past. It follows the rule: Si + Plus-que-parfait (avaient condamné) followed by the Conditionnel passé (aurait été). It expresses that because they didn't convict him, the terrible sentence didn't happen.
What does the l' in l'avaient stand for, and why is it placed there?
The l' stands for le (him), acting as the direct object of the verb. In compound tenses like the Plus-que-parfait, object pronouns always go right before the auxiliary verb (avaient), not the past participle (condamné). We also know l' refers to a man because condamné doesn't have an extra -e at the end for feminine agreement.
Why is the conditional past of 'être' formed with 'avoir' (aurait été)?
Even though être is the verb for a state of being, it uses avoir as its helping verb in all compound tenses. So, to say 'would have been', you use the conditional of avoir (aurait) plus the past participle of être (été).
I thought la peine meant 'effort' or 'sorrow'. Why is it translated as 'sentence' here?
La peine has multiple meanings. While you might know it from expressions like ça vaut la peine (it is worth the effort), in a legal context—which we know we are in because of the verb condamné—la peine means a punishment or a prison sentence. Note that the grammatical word for a sentence you read or write is une phrase.
Why is it written as S'ils instead of Si ils?
The word si (if) only ever drops its 'i' and uses an apostrophe when it is directly followed by il or ils. If it were followed by elle or elles, it would remain fully written out, as in si elles l'avaient condamné.
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