Conditional Perfect
French: AQA A Level, topic 11.7.1
The Conditional Perfect
The conditional perfect tense describes an action that should have or could have happened.
Conditional perfect
- We can use the conditional perfect to describe events that:
- Should have happened
- Could have happened
Forming the conditional perfect
- To form the conditional perfect:
- Start with the conditional tense of the auxiliary verbs avoir (to have) or être (to be)
- Add the past participle
Regular -er verbs
- Examples of regular -er verbs in the conditional perfect tense:
- J’aurais visité beaucoup plus de pays si j’avais eu plus d’argent.
- I would have visited many more countries if I had had more money.
- J’aurais déjà déménagé de chez mes parents si j’avais été indépendant financièrement.
- I would have already moved out of my parents’ house if I had been financially independent.
Regular -ir verbs
- Examples of regular -ir verbs in the conditional perfect tense:
- Si cela avait été possible, j’aurais choisi d’habiter dans le sud de la France.
- If it had been possible, I would have chosen to live in the south of France.
- Si j'avais eu le choix, j’aurais réfléchi plus avant de me porter volontaire.
- If I had had the choice, I would have thought about it more before volunteering.
Regular -re verbs
- Examples of regular -re verbs in the conditional perfect tense:
- La victoire aurait dépendu d’une plus forte participation des jeunes aux élections.
- The victory would have depended on a higher participation of young people in the elections.
- S’il avait été plus populaire, le parti actuellement au gouvernement n’aurait pas perdu les élections.
- If it had been more popular, the party currently in government wouldn't have lost the elections.
Test yourself on Conditional Perfect
Which of these is the regular past participle of visiter?