Learn Hardcore French: Nous aurions visité le musée si l’exposition n’avait pas été annulée. - We would have visited the museum if the exhibition had not been canceled.

It’s the conditional perfect (French: conditionnel passé). It expresses a past action that would have happened if a condition had been met (here, if the exhibition hadn’t been canceled). It’s formed with the conditional of the auxiliary (avoir or être) + a past participle. Example: nous aurions visité; with movement/reflexive verbs: nous serions allés.

What tense is n’avait pas été annulée, and why is it used?

It’s the pluperfect in the passive voice (plus-que-parfait passif). Use it in the si-clause to talk about a prior, unreal condition in the past. Structure here: avait (imperfect of avoir) + été (past participle of être) + annulée (past participle agreeing with the subject). In passive, French uses être + past participle; to put that in a compound past, être itself takes avoir: hence avait été.

Why doesn’t the si-clause use the conditional?

In French, si is followed by the indicative, not the conditional. For counterfactuals in the past, the pattern is:

si + plus-que-parfait → main clause in conditionnel passé For reference:
si + imparfait → conditionnel présent
si + présent → futur (or present/imperative depending on context)

Can I reverse the order of the clauses? What about the comma?

Yes.

Si clause first: add a comma after it. Example: Si l’exposition n’avait pas été annulée, nous aurions visité le musée.
Main clause first: generally no comma. Example: Nous aurions visité le musée si l’exposition n’avait pas été annulée.

Why is it visiter le musée and not rendre visite au musée?

Because rendre visite à is used for people (and occasionally pets), not places. For places, use visiter with a direct object: visiter le musée. If you’re talking about going there, you’d say aller au musée.

Why le musée but l’exposition?

Gender and elision:

musée is masculine singular → le musée.
exposition is feminine singular → la exposition, but la elides before a vowel sound, so l’exposition.

Why does annulée have an extra -e?

Agreement in the passive: with être, the past participle agrees with the grammatical subject. Exposition is feminine singular, so annulée. Note that été (past participle of être) never agrees.

Should visité agree with nous?

No. With avoir as auxiliary, the past participle agrees only with a preceding direct object. Here, le musée comes after the verb, so visité stays invariable. Contrast:

Les musées que nous avons visités (agreement with preceding direct object les musées).

Why is the negation placed as n’avait pas été and not n’avait été pas?

In compound tenses, ne … pas (and similar negatives) wrap around the conjugated auxiliary, not the participles. So it’s n’ + avait + pas + été + annulée.

Could I simplify the condition to something like “if the exhibition had taken place”?

Yes. Si l’exposition avait eu lieu is a natural alternative with the same meaning. You could also say the colloquial si l’expo n’avait pas été annulée.

Could I say Nous serions allés au musée… instead?

Yes, if you mean “we would have gone (there) to the museum.” It emphasizes the trip rather than the act of visiting. Formation: être as auxiliary + agreement:

mixed/all-male group: nous serions allés
all-female group: nous serions allées

Why not si l’exposition n’a pas été annulée?

That form isn’t counterfactual; it refers to a completed past action within a real timeline (e.g., narrating or checking a fact). For an unreal past condition (which didn’t happen), French requires si + plus-que-parfait.

Does si ever take the subjunctive?

No in modern French. Si uses indicative tenses (present, imperfect, pluperfect). If you need the subjunctive for conditions, you use other conjunctions like à condition que, pourvu que, etc.

Is annuler the right verb here? What about reporter or supprimer?

annuler = cancel outright (it won’t happen).
reporter = postpone (it will happen later).
supprimer = remove/delete/cut (e.g., a session in a series).
Here, annuler is the natural choice.

Can I drop ne in speech?

Yes, in informal spoken French: si l’exposition avait pas été annulée. In writing or formal speech, keep ne: n’avait pas.

Any quick pronunciation tips for this sentence?

Nous aurions: liaison between nous and aurions → “nou-z-orion.”
n’avait pas été: careful speech may liaison pas été → “pa-z-été,” but it’s often pronounced without that liaison in casual speech.
Stressed syllables: mu-SÉ, vi-si-TÉ, an-nu-LÉE; l’ex-po-si-TION ends with a nasal “-syoh̃”.

Do I ever write Nous aurions visités le musée?

No. That’s a common mistake. With avoir, you don’t agree the participle with the subject. It’s Nous aurions visité le musée. Agreement only happens with a preceding direct object.

Is Nous aurions visité au musée correct?

No. Visiter takes a direct object without a preposition: visiter le musée. Use aller au musée if you need the preposition (à + le = au).

Could the meaning be conveyed without the passive?

Yes: Si l’exposition avait eu lieu, nous aurions visité le musée. Both are idiomatic; the passive (avait été annulée) focuses on the cancellation, while avait eu lieu focuses on the (non-)occurrence.