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The past conditional represents, as its name implies, the past of the present conditional mood.
In French, the past conditional is called le passé du conditionnel or le conditionnel antérieur.
Both the present and past conditional express hypothetical situations or conditions.
formation
The past conditional is a compound tense, i.e. it has two parts, an auxiliary and the past participle.
The past conditional is formed with the conditional of the auxiliary (either avoir or être)
and the past participle of the main verb.
Past conditional = auxiliary in the conditional + past participle
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| dire 'to say' |
| j'aurais dit, I would have said |
nous aurions dit, we would have said |
| tu aurais dit, you would have said |
vous auriez dit, you would have said |
il / elle / on aurait dit,
he, she (it) / one would have said |
ils / elles auraient dit,
they would have said |
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In the past conditional (as with the passé composé), you have to choose between avoir
and être as the auxiliary. While most verbs use avoir as an auxiliary,
pronominal verbs and verbs of movement generally use être (see the Alamo of être).
Just as for the passé composé with être, in the past conditional with être,
the past participle agrees in gender and in number with the subject.
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| partir 'to leave' |
| je serais parti(e), I would have left |
nous serions parti(e)s, we would have left |
| tu serais parti(e), you would have left |
vous seriez parti(s), you would have left |
il / elle / on serait parti/partie,
he, she (it) / one would have left |
ils / elles seraient partis/parties,
they would have left |
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uses
Like the present conditional, the past conditional is used for hypotheses. Unlike the present conditional, however, it is used to describe or imagine events and actions which failed to happen. This is why it is often used to express regret about events which did not occur. In most cases, the past conditional is translated as meaning would have as in English. However, j'aurais pu means 'I could have'; j'aurais dû means 'I should have', and j'aurais voulu means 'I would have liked'.
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| Tex: J'aurais aimé être artiste. |
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Tex: I would have liked to be an artist. |
| Corey: J'aurais voulu être beau. |
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Corey: I would have liked to be handsome. |
| Tammy: Je n'aurais pas dû écouter Bette. |
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Tammy: I should not have listened to Bette. |
| Edouard: J'aurais pu être un chef célèbre! |
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Edouard: I could have been a famous chef! |
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The past conditional is found in si clauses with the pluperfect.
This is because si clauses with the pluperfect also describe events that did not occur,
or rather conditions which were not fulfilled so that the event in the past conditional could occur.
In the dialogue below, all the verbs in the past conditional describe events that would have happened had the original condition been fulfilled.
Note that the unfulfilled condition is implied in each occurrence of the past conditional.
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| Tex et Edouard discutent de la vie en Amérique. |
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Tex and Edouard are discussing life in America. |
| Edouard: Si tu n'avais pas vendu de T-shirts aux touristes, qu'est-ce qui serait arrivé? |
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Edouard: If you hadn't sold t-shirts to tourists, what would have happened? |
| Tex: Ben, d'un côté, je serais resté en France, bien sûr. Mais, de l'autre, je n'aurais pas connu le Texas et je ne serais pas devenu ami avec Tammy. Et tous mes copains ici auraient perdu l'occasion de connaître un philosophe distingué! |
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Tex: Well, on the one hand, I would have stayed in France, of course. But on the other hand, I would not have seen Texas and I would not have become friends with Tammy. And all my friends here would have lost the opportunity to know a distinguished philosopher! |
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• possibility or uncertainty
The past conditional, like the present conditional, gives information on a past event about which the accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
It is used by journalists and reporters.
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| Tammy et Bette regardent la télé. Soudain, leur programme préféré est interrompu et un commentateur annonce: |
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Tammy and Bette are watching television. Suddenly, their favorite program is interrupted and a commentator announces: |
| 'Une tornade vient de s'abattre sur Hubbard, Texas. Elle aurait fait plusieurs victimes. Un tatou et un écureuil auraient été gravement blessés ... ' |
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'A tornado just struck in Hubbard, Texas. It is said to have caused several casualties. An armadillo and a squirrel seem to have been seriously wounded ...' |
| Presque immédiatement, le téléphone sonne. Tammy répond 'A ... , Allô?' A l'autre bout, Tex dit 'Tammy, c'est moi, Tex. Ne t'inquiète pas, on va très bien. Je rentrerai bientôt.' |
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Almost immediately, the phone rings. Tammy answers, 'He ... , Hello?' At the other end, Tex says, 'Tammy, it's me Tex. Don't worry we're fine. I'll be home soon.' |
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• reported speech (indirect discourse)
Just as the conditional represents the future in a past time narration, the past conditional represents the future perfect (futur antérieur)
in a past time narration to tell what someone would have done.
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| Tex a dit qu'il serait rentré plus tôt, si l'orage n'avait pas éclaté. |
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Tex said he would have been home sooner, if it had not stormed. |
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