Breakdown of Si elle n'était pas susceptible, elle n'aurait pas quitté cette réunion.
être
to be
elle
she
avoir
to have
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
ce
this (before a noun)
la réunion
the meeting
si
if
quitter
to leave (a place or person)
susceptible
touchy
Questions & Answers about Si elle n'était pas susceptible, elle n'aurait pas quitté cette réunion.
Why use the imparfait (était) in the 'si' clause when the result is in the past conditional (aurait quitté)?
This is a mixed conditional! We use si + imparfait because her being touchy is an ongoing personality trait (a present or general condition). We use the past conditional (aurait quitté) because her leaving the meeting was a specific, completed action in the past. If she had merely been touchy in that one specific past moment, you would use the pluperfect instead: Si elle n'avait pas été susceptible...
Wait, doesn't susceptible mean "vulnerable to" or "likely to be influenced"?
Not in French! This is a classic false friend. In French, susceptible describes someone who is "touchy", "easily offended", or "thin-skinned". If you want to say someone is susceptible to a disease or influence in French, you would use vulnérable or sujet à.
Could I use parti or sorti instead of quitté to say she left?
Not in this exact sentence. The verb quitter requires a direct object, meaning you must leave something or someone. Because she explicitly left cette réunion (this meeting), we use quitter. If the sentence ended without mentioning the meeting (just "she wouldn't have left"), you would use partir instead: elle ne serait pas partie.
Just as a refresher, why is pas placed where it is in n'aurait pas quitté?
In French compound tenses, like the past conditional used here, the negation (ne ... pas) always wraps around the conjugated auxiliary (helping) verb. Here, that helping verb is aurait. The past participle (quitté) comes immediately after the completed negation.
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