Look at these examples of "pouvoir" in the Conditionnel passé:
J'aurais pu être un grand artiste.
I could have been a great artist.
Tu n'aurais pas pu venir de toute façon!
You couldn't have come anyway!
Elle aurait pu appeler!
She could have called!
Nous aurions pu vous écrire plus tôt, c'est vrai.
We could have written to you earlier, that's true.
Vous auriez pu nous prévenir.
You could have warned us.
Ils n'auraient jamais pu comprendre tes raisons.
They could never have understood your reasons.
Conjugating pouvoir in Le Conditionnel Passé is easy:
Conditionnel of avoir + pu (past participle of pouvoir) + infinitive
Notice the difference between the English and French:
- in English you use the past participle form of the verb (been,called, warned)
- in French we use the Conditionnel passé of pouvoir + the verb infinitive (être, appeler, prévenir) .
See other lessons on Le Conditionnel Passé:
Conjugate regular -er, -ir, -dre verbs (+ avoir) in Le Conditionnel Passé (past conditional)
Conjugate verbs (+ être) in Le Conditionnel Passé (past conditional)
Conjugate verbs with irregular past participles in Le Conditionnel Passé (past conditional)
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Nous aurions pu vous écrire plus tôt, c'est vrai.
We could have written to you earlier, that's true.
J'aurais pu être un grand artiste.
I could have been a great artist.
Tu n'aurais pas pu venir de toute façon!
You couldn't have come anyway!
Vous auriez pu nous prévenir.
You could have warned us.
Ils n'auraient jamais pu comprendre tes raisons.
They could never have understood your reasons.
Elle aurait pu appeler!
She could have called!
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
9/03/18
Clairvoyance? ;) No, seriously, you would need to know the context to distinguish. But there are such issues in every language:
It's a bear skin.
It's a bare skin.
Here is another ideosyncrazy of English. Try to wrap your head wround this grammatically perfectly correct sentence:
THE COMPLEX HOUSES MARRIED AND SINGLE SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES.
Solution: The complex (of buildings) houses soldiers (who are either married or single) along with their families.
You just gotta embrace it! ;)
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
12/03/18
Yes, Chris is right on this one (again!) :)
Here, only the context will help you know which one it is.
Bonne journée !
CrystalMaiden
Kwiziq community member
6 May 2018
1 reply
So basically French doesn't have " could have, " it has, " have been capable of. "
With " pu " being the one translated to " been capable of. " I think this should be in the lesson, to make this easier to understand.
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
17 August 2018
17/08/18
Hi CrystalMaiden,
Yes indeed there is no single word equivalent for 'could' in French.
You have to use the verbe 'pouvoir' in the conditional present to convey the concept of ,'could' and the conditional past for, 'could have'.
Nous pourrions réduire nos dépenses = We could reduce our expenses
Vous auriez pu me prévenir= You could have warned me
In the same way 'should' will be conveyed by using the verbs 'devoir' and sometimes 'falloir'.
Hope this helps!