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French conditional quiz: 10 questions on forms and uses

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Ten questions on the French conditional: endings, irregular stems, polite requests, advice, si clauses and a promise reported in the past.

Before you start

The conditional is the future stem plus the imparfait endings: parler → je parlerais. You use it to ask politely, give advice, imagine a result and report a promise made in the past.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

A customer politely orders a coffee at a café counter.
A café request brings je voudrais un café into context. Illustration: Atelier
The endings, on the future stem
parlerêtrepouvoir
jeparleraisseraispourrais
tuparleraisseraispourrais
il / elle / onparleraitseraitpourrait
nousparlerionsserionspourrions
vousparleriezseriezpourriez
ils / ellesparleraientseraientpourraient
  1. Question 1No account needed
    Put parler in the conditional with nous.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    nous parlerions. Future stem parler- plus -ions. Parlions is the imparfait and parlerons is the future.

  2. Question 2No account needed
    Put être in the conditional with vous.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    vous seriez. Être has the stem ser-, and vous takes -iez. Serez is the future; étiez is the imparfait.

  3. Question 3No account needed
    Make the request polite with vouloir.Je ___ un renseignement, s’il vous plaît.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    voudrais. Je voudrais is the polite request. Voudrai (future) sounds almost the same but is written without the -s.

  4. Question 4No account needed
    Which sentence is correct?

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Nous pourrions partir.. Pouvoir is followed directly by an infinitive: nous pourrions partir.

  5. Question 5No account needed
    Give advice with devoir.Tu ___ vérifier l’adresse.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    devrais. Tu devrais is advice. Dois is the present; devrait goes with il or elle.

  6. Question 6No account needed
    Complete the si clause.Si j’___ plus de temps, je lirais davantage.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    avais. After si, French uses the imparfait: si j’avais. The conditional belongs in the result: je lirais.

  7. Question 7No account needed
    Complete the result with venir.Si elle était libre, elle ___ avec nous.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    viendrait. The result of si + imparfait is in the conditional: elle viendrait.

  8. Question 8No account needed
    Turn it into a question with inversion.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Pourrait-il venir ?. Pourrait already ends in -t, so no extra -t- is added: pourrait-il.

  9. Question 9No account needed
    “I wouldn’t do that.”

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Je ne ferais pas cela.. Ne … pas goes around the verb: je ne ferais pas. Ferai without -s is the future.

  10. Question 10No account needed
    Report the promise from the past with venir.Il a promis qu’il ___.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    viendrait. After a past verb like a promis, the future becomes the conditional: il viendrait.

What do common conditional mistakes mean?

  • Si j’aurais le temps…Si j’avais le temps…

    After si, use the imparfait. The conditional goes in the other half of the sentence.

  • Nous parlions plus si…Nous parlerions plus si…

    Without the -r- of the future stem, you have written the imparfait.

  • Je voudrai un café.Je voudrais un café.

    Both sound almost the same. In writing, the polite request needs the -s.

Missed a form question? Learn the irregular stems as a set: ser-, aur-, pourr-, viendr-, fer-, devr-, voudr-. Missed a meaning question? Look at the rest of the sentence: si + imparfait, a past reporting verb or a polite request all point to the conditional.

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