Conditional Mood

The conditional mood is formed by adding the following endings to the future stem of the relevant verb.

Nota Bene: The endings used for the conditional mood are identical to those used for the imperfect tense.

The conditional mood conveys the idea of ‘would do’ in English and is used in the following situations:

-As a mark of politeness

e.g.  Pourriez-vous m’aider?, which means , Could you help me?

-With si + imperfect tense to express a desire

e.g.  Si j’étais riche, j’achèterai une belle voiture , which means , If i were rich, I would buy a nice car.

-When recounting something that was said in the future tense

e.g.  Il m’a promis qu’il ferait son mieux pour arriver à l’heure , which means , He promised he would try his best to reach on time.

Nota Bene: the conditional can also be used to express an allegation or when attributing an opinion to someone else that would normally be expressed in the present in English.

e.g.  According to the international press, the economic crisis is worsening , which translates to, Selon la presse internationale, la crise économique serait de plus en plus grave.

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