Learn French: Ils préparent la trousse de secours au cas où il y aurait un accident. - They are preparing the first aid kit in case there is an accident.

Ils préparent la trousse de secours au cas où il y aurait un accident.

They are preparing the first aid kit in case there is an accident.

Breakdown of Ils préparent la trousse de secours au cas où il y aurait un accident.

a / an (masculine)

ils

they (masculine/mixed)

Questions & Answers about Ils préparent la trousse de secours au cas où il y aurait un accident.

Why does the French sentence use "il y aurait" (there would be) instead of "il y a" (there is)?

In French, the phrase au cas où (in case) is always followed by the conditional tense because it introduces a hypothetical situation. Even though English uses the present tense ("in case there is"), French strictly requires the conditional here.

How is il y aurait formed?

It is the conditional form of il y a (there is / there are). To make it conditional, you take the a (which comes from the verb avoir) and change it to its conditional form. The conditional stem of avoir is aur-, and since we are using the il form, we add the ending -ait, resulting in il y aurait.

What exactly is a trousse de secours?

Une trousse is a small case or pouch (you might remember it as a "pencil case" from beginner vocabulary). Le secours means "help" or "aid" (like when people shout Au secours ! for "Help!"). Put together, une trousse de secours is the standard French term for a "first aid kit".

Is there a spoken liaison between cas and où?

No, the s in cas remains completely silent. You pronounce it like "o kah oo". Making a "z" sound between the two words (like "o kah zoo") is a common mistake for learners, but it is incorrect in French.