Français — Past conditional
The conditionnel passé combines the conditional of avoir or être with a past participle: j'aurais fait, je serais parti(e). It names an unreal past — what would have happened under a condition that was not met.
How it works
Form it as conditionnel of avoir/être + past participle, following the same auxiliary and agreement rules as the passé composé: j'aurais parlé but je serais allé(e). It is the main clause of an unreal-past hypothesis, where the si-clause takes the plus-que-parfait: Si j'avais su, je serais venu (If I had known, I would have come).
Forms and uses
| Example | Use |
|---|---|
| j'aurais parlé | avoir + participle (most verbs) |
| je serais allé(e) | être + participle, agrees with the subject |
| je me serais levé(e) plus tôt | pronominal verb, always with être |
| j'aurais dû partir plus tôt | devoir: regret — I should have left earlier |
| tu aurais pu m'aider | pouvoir: reproach — you could have helped me |
| Si j'avais su, je serais venu | unreal past: si + plus-que-parfait, main clause in conditionnel passé |
Good to know
Never use the conditional in the si-clause itself: say Si j'avais su, not Si j'aurais su. The conditionnel passé belongs only in the main clause. Also mind agreement — with être and pronominal verbs the participle agrees (elle serait partie, elles se seraient levées), while with avoir it stays invariable unless a direct object precedes it.