Breakdown of Si l'avocat avait parlé, le verdict aurait été différent.
être
to be
avoir
to have
parler
to speak
différent
different
Questions & Answers about Si l'avocat avait parlé, le verdict aurait été différent.
How does the grammar of the Si clause work here?
In a Third Conditional sentence, we talk about a past event that didn't happen. The Si (If) part of the sentence must use the plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) tense. Here, that is avait parlé (had spoken), formed with the imperfect of the helper verb avoir plus the past participle parlé.
Why do we use aurait été instead of serait for the result?
Because the condition is in the past, the hypothetical result must also be in the past. The word serait is the present conditional (would be), while aurait été is the past conditional (would have been). You form it using the conditional of avoir (aurait) plus the past participle of être (été).
Wait, doesn't avocat mean avocado?
Why doesn't the i in Si get dropped before the vowel in l'avocat?