Le Conditionnel Présent

French Conditional Present

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE

Last updated: 2023-03-25

Le Conditionnel Présent is the present tense of the conditional mood, which expresses hypothetical actions that would or might happen in the future.

The English conditional is the modal verb ''would'' + main verb, while the French Conditionnel is a full set of verb conjugations.

For example

Nous aimerions étudier le français.We would like to study French.

Je danserais toute la nuit si je le pouvais !I would dance all night if I could!

See also: French Présent and All French tenses

Je voudrais vs je veux to say that you want something in French
Conjugate most French verbs in the conditional present (Le Conditionnel Présent)
Conjugate être in the conditional present in French (Le Conditionnel Présent)
Conjugate faire in the conditional present in French (Le Conditionnel Présent)
Conjugate aller in the conditional present in French (Le Conditionnel Présent)
Conjugate devoir in the conditional present in French = should (Le Conditionnel Présent)
Conjugate pouvoir in the conditional present in French = could (Le Conditionnel Présent)
Conjugate regular -er, -ir, -dre verbs (+ avoir) in the conditional past in French (Le Conditionnel Passé)
Conjugate avoir in the conditional present in French (Le Conditionnel Présent)
Au cas où + conditional mood (Le Conditionnel) = in case in French