B1 · If-sentences
Second conditional: si + imparfait
Past after si, «would» in the other half.
At a glance
- Remember
- Past after «if», «would» after the comma — in both languages.
- When
If and would — Here the condition decides the form, not the position on the clock.
- Form
- Si j’avais le temps, je viendrais.If I had time, I would come.
- Signal words
- si j’avais
- si tu étais
- serait
- pourrait
- Trap
- Wrong:Si j’aurais le temps, je viendrais.Right:Si j’avais le temps, je viendrais.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in French. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) tense marker person ending question marker
| If I had time, I would come. | Si j’avais le temps, je viendrais. |
| If you were here, it would be easier. | Si tu étais là, ce serait plus simple. |
| If we left now… | Si nous partions maintenant… |
| What would you do if you won? | Que ferais-tu si tu gagnais ? |
| If I were you, I would wait. | Si j’étais toi, j’attendrais. |
| It would be nice if you came. | Ce serait bien si tu venais. |
| if I had | si j’avais |
| if you had | si tu avais |
| if he had | s’il avait |
| if we had | si nous avions |
| if you had (plural, polite) | si vous aviez |
| if they had | s’ils avaient |
| I would wait | j’attendrais |
| you would wait | tu attendrais |
| he would wait | il attendrait |
| we would wait | nous attendrions |
| you would wait (plural, polite) | vous attendriez |
| they would wait | ils attendraient |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
Imparfait after si, conditional in the main clause.
Si j’avais une voiture, je t’emmènerais.If I had a car, I would take you.
The imparfait does not mean the past here.
Si tu voulais, on pourrait partir ce soir.If you wanted, we could leave this evening.
si j’aurais and si je serais do not exist.
Si j’étais riche, je voyagerais.If I were rich, I would travel.
«If I were you» is si j’étais toi.
Si j’étais toi, je lui parlerais.If I were you, I would talk to him.
Example sentences
Si nous avions plus de place, nous vous inviterions.If we had more room, we would invite you.
Que dirais-tu si je partais sans toi ?What would you say if I left without you?
Si elle savait la vérité, elle serait furieuse.If she knew the truth, she would be furious.
Ce serait plus rapide si on prenait le train.It would be quicker if we took the train.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Si j'aurais is the most famous mistake in French, and English speakers are unusually well armed against it, because «if I would have the time» is a mistake in English too and one people are taught to avoid. Trust that instinct: whatever «would» appears in the English, it belongs after the comma. After si comes the imparfait, and nothing else.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
After si comes the imparfait, and in the main clause the conditional: Si j'avais le temps, je viendrais. English does the identical thing: «if I had the time, I would come» — a past tense in the if-clause, «would» in the other.
The imparfait does not mean the past here, and English's «had» does not either. Both languages use a past form to mark something as unreal, which is why «if I had the time» does not describe yesterday. Nothing about that needs explaining to an English speaker; it needs only to be recognised as the same trick.
The sentence says: it is not so, and if it were, then. It ranges from pure imagination to a polite hint.
Si j'étais toi is «if I were you», and even the odd English «were» has a French counterpart in the choice of étais over anything conditional. The prohibition holds: si j'aurais does not exist, exactly as «if I would have» does not.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: être · avoir · partir · dire · pouvoir · prendre · parler · vouloir