Examples of Conditional Sentences
Table of Contents
Examples of Conditional Sentences Adapted from Grévisse, Le bon usage
I. Hypothèse pure et simple
Various combinations of indicative tenses are possible. (However, the most important to learn are the first two.)
Present – Future
- S’il pleut demain, je ne sortirai pas. (If it rains tomorrow, I won’t go out.)
The Imperative has the force of a future; hence, the pattern PRESENT – IMPERATIVE works the same way in a conditional sentence as the pattern PRESENT – FUTURE.
Present – Imperative
- S’il vient, demande-lui ce qu’il a fait. (If he comes, ask him what he did.)
Present – Present
- Si tu admets cette opinion, tu as tort. (If you accept this opinion, you are wrong.)
- Si A égale B et B égale C, A égale C. (If A equals B and B equals C, A equals C.)
- S’il pleut, 1 je ne sors pas. (If it rains, I don’t go out.)
Other Possibilities
- Si tu as admis cette opinion, tu as eu tort. (If you accepted this opinion, you were wrong.)
II. Un Présent irréel
Grévisse: “La proposition conditionnelle exprime un fait présent que l’on considère comme contraire à la réalité.”
Imperfect – Present Conditional
- Si tu admettais cela, tu aurais tort. (If you accepted that, you would be wrong.)
- Si j’étais roi, je te ferais pendre. (If I were king, I would have you hanged.)
- Si ces murs pouvaient parler, ils nous diraient bien des choses. (If these walls could 2 speak, they would tell us many things.
III. Un Passé irréel
Grévisse: “La proposition conditionnelle exprime un fait passé que l’on considère comme contraire à la réalité.”
Pluperfect (of the Indicative) – Past Conditional
- Si tu avais admis cette opinion, tu aurais eu tort. (If you had accepted this opinion, you would have been wrong.)
- Si j’avais cherché, j’aurais trouvé. (If I had sought, I would have found.)
- Si Marc–Antoine n’avait pas aimé Cléopâtre, il aurait battu Octavien. (If Marc Antony had not loved Cleopatra, he would have beaten Octavian.)
Examples of conditional sentences from the Professor
I. Simple hypothesis (present + future)
- Si tu manques le train, tu manqueras ton cours. (If you miss the train, you will miss your class.)
- Si tu as des dettes, tes créanciers te poursuivront. (If you have debts, your creditors will go after you.)
- Si tu es riche, tu seras comblé d’amis. (If you are rich, you will be loaded with friends.)
- Si tu tombes, tu mourras. (If you fall, you will die.)
- Si tu te trompes, tu te mettras en colère. (If you are wrong, you will get angry.)
II. Present Contrary-to-Fact (imperfect + present conditional)
- Si tu manquais le train, tu manquerais ton cours. (If you missed the train, you would miss your class.)
- Si tu avais des dettes, tes créanciers te poursuivraient. (If you had debts, your creditors would go after you.)
- Si tu étais riche, tu serais comblé d’amis. (If you were rich, you would be loaded with friends.)
- Si tu tombais, tu mourrais. (If you fell, you would die.)
- Si tu te trompais, tu te mettrais en colère. (If you were wrong, you would get angry.)
III. Past Contrary-to-Fact (pluperfect + past conditional)
- Si tu avais manqué le train, tu aurais manqué ton cours. (If you had missed the train, you would have gotten angry.)
- Si tu avais eu des dettes, tes créanciers t’auraient poursuivi. (If you had had debts, your creditors would have gone after you.)
- Si tu avais été riche, tu aurais été comblé d’amis. (If you had been rich, you would have been loaded with friends.)
- Si tu étais tombé, tu serais mort. (If you had fallen, you would have died.)
- Si tu t’étais trompé, tu te serais mis en colère. (If you had been wrong, you would have gotten angry.)
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