French si clauses: a proofreading checklist with worked repairs
Check if versus whether, then choose the condition and result tenses. Worked repairs cover open conditions, hypotheses and a past-to-present result.
In short
First decide whether si introduces a condition (“if”) or an indirect question (“whether”). For a condition, choose the time of each half: Si j’avais le temps, je viendrais. For a question, a future is possible: Je ne sais pas si elle viendra.
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Si tu acceptes, je confirmerai.If you accept, I’ll confirm.
Focus: A condition and its result
Je confirmerai si tu acceptes.
I’ll confirm if you accept.
Je me demande si tu accepteras.I wonder whether you’ll accept.
Focus: An unanswered yes/no question
Elle veut savoir si tu viendras.
She wants to know whether you’ll come.
| Meaning | Condition | Result | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open future possibility | si + present | future | Si elle accepte, nous commencerons. |
| Imagined present or future | si + imparfait | present conditional | Si elle acceptait, nous commencerions. |
| Alternative past | si + pluperfect | past conditional | Si elle avait accepté, nous aurions commencé. |
Check the meaning before repairing an ending. Si elle acceptait presents an imagined acceptance; it can concern a future decision. The imparfait here belongs to the hypothetical pattern. It need not describe yesterday.
How do you check a French si clause?
- Si j’aurais le temps, je participerais.Si j’avais le temps, je participerais.
For this present hypothesis, the condition takes the imparfait; the result already has the conditional.
- Si elle avait répondu, nous avons confirmé.Si elle avait répondu, nous aurions confirmé.
To imagine a different past result, use the past conditional. Avons confirmé would assert an actual confirmation.
- Si nous acceptons, elle viendront.Si nous acceptons, elle viendra.
The result has its own subject, elle. It takes singular viendra.
Let the result keep its own time
Si tu as une question, appelle-moi.
If you have a question, call me.
An open condition can lead to an instruction, expressed by an imperative.
Si j’avais accepté ce poste, j’habiterais à Lyon aujourd’hui.
If I had accepted that job, I would be living in Lyon today.
The imagined decision is past; its imagined result is present.
Read the sentence with its clauses reversed: J’habiterais à Lyon aujourd’hui si j’avais accepté ce poste. The condition is still the half beginning with si. Word order leaves the time relationship intact.