would the negative be, for example, Ils ne seraient pas tellement déçus.

Barbara R.A1Kwiziq community member

would the negative be, for example, Ils ne seraient pas tellement déçus.

Is this correct? Vous ne seriez pas surpris. And this - to ask if he would be happy to help? Est-ce qu'il serait heureux d'aider
Asked 8 years ago
AurélieNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer
Bonjour Barbara !

The first two sentences are perfectly correct :)
However, to ask if someone would be happy to help, although your version is grammatically correct, the exact equivalent wouldn't be colloquial in French.
Instead, we'd use "bien vouloir + infinitif", as such:
"Est-ce qu'il voudrait bien [m'/t'/l'/nous/vous/les] aider ?"

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Peter K.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

I don't understand why you use pouvais in this context. For me, si je pouvais means if I could in the sense of in the past. Therefore it should be:

si je pouvais, j'aurais été astronaute.

If you want to say if I could in the sense of something for the future, shouldn't it be:

si je pourrais, je serais astronaute

CélineNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq

Bonjour Peter,

As the saying goes in French, " les 'si' n'aiment pas les '-rais' ". If you wish to talk about a hypothetical situation, 'si' (if) is followed by L'Imparfait + Le Conditionnel Présent. Here is a link to the lesson explaining this exact rule: l-imparfait-usage-in-hypothetical-clauses-introduced-by-si-if-followed-by-le-conditionnel-present

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Barbara R. asked:

would the negative be, for example, Ils ne seraient pas tellement déçus.

Is this correct? Vous ne seriez pas surpris. And this - to ask if he would be happy to help? Est-ce qu'il serait heureux d'aider

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