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)
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?