The Past Conditional in French

Quick Answer

The French passé du conditionnel(past conditional) is a compound tense used to talk about actions that would have happened, but didn’t. It often appears in sentences that express regrets, missed opportunities, criticism, or hypothetical past actions. The past conditional can also be used in reported speech. It is formed with an auxiliaire(auxiliary) conjugated in the présent du conditionnel(present conditional), followed by a participe passé(past participle).

examples
Tu aurais pu m'appeler. You could have called me.
Nous serions venus plus tôt si nous avions su. We would have come earlier if we had known.
Il a dit qu'il aurait terminé avant midi. He said he would have finished before noon.

examples

Tu aurais pu m'appeler.

You could have called me.

Nous serions venus plus tôt si nous avions su.

We would have come earlier if we had known.

Il a dit qu'il aurait terminé avant midi.

He said he would have finished before noon.

In this article, you'll learn how to form the past conditional in French, when to use it, and how to avoid common mistakes. C'est parti !(Let's go!)

Questions This Article Answers

What is the past conditional in French?

How do you form the passé du conditionnel?

When do you use the past conditional in French?

How to Form the Passé du Conditionnel

Le passé du conditionnel(the past conditional) is a compound tense, and all compound tenses follow the same formation rule in French.

Formation Rule for Compound Tenses in French

Choose the right auxiliary based on the verb you're using: avoir(to have) or être(to be).

Conjugate the auxiliary you selected in the appropriate tense.

Add the past participle form of your verb after the auxiliary.

All you need to know is that the passé du conditionnel uses the présent du conditionnel(present conditional) of the auxiliary. There you go! You've got your verb conjugated in the passé du conditionnel!

Here's a refresher on how to conjugate avoir and être in the présent du conditionnel. You'll need this to conjugate any verb you want in the passé du conditionnel.

Auxiliaries Avoir and Être in the Présent du Conditionnel

Subject	avoir	être
je	aurais	serais
tu	aurais	serais
il, elle, on	aurait	serait
nous	aurions	serions
vous	auriez	seriez
ils, elles	auraient	seraient

Now that you've got your auxiliary, just add the past participle and you're good to go!

examples
J'aurais répondu si j'avais vu ton message. I would have replied if I had seen your message.
Vous auriez compris la blague si on vous avait expliqué le contexte. You would have understood the joke if someone had explained the context to you.
Myriam serait arrivée plus tôt si elle avait pris le train. Myriam would have arrived earlier if she had taken the train.
Nous serions nés au Canada si nos parents y avaient déménagé. We would have been born in Canada if our parents had moved there.

Did you forget how to choose between avoir and être in compound tenses? No problem! Take a look at the section called "Être and Avoir as Auxiliary Verbs" in this article!

The Difference Between Être and Avoir

This article also includes agreement rules that you need to be aware of when conjugating a verb in a compound tense in French. All the examples are in the passé composé(compound past), but know that all the agreement rules that apply to the passé composé also apply to the passé du conditionnel—and, in fact, to all compound tenses!

When Is the Passé du Conditionnel Used?

While the présent du conditionnel can be used to express an action that would happen, the passé du conditionnel can be used to express an action that would have happened under certain conditions.

Similar to the présent du conditionnel, the passé du conditionnel can also be used in reported speech in the past.

The passé du conditionnel can also be used to express regret and criticism.

1. Hypothetical or Imagined Actions in the Past

The passé du conditionnel is used to describe actions that would have happened, but didn’t, often because of some unfulfilled condition or change in plans. It’s the go-to tense for talking about missed opportunities or what might have been.

examples
J’aurais accepté s’il m’avait demandé. I would have said yes if he had asked me.
Elle serait venue si elle n’avait pas été malade. She would have come if she hadn’t been sick.
Nous aurions fini plus tôt si tu nous avais aidés. We would have finished earlier if you had helped us.

You’ll notice that these sentences often include an if-clause with a verb in the plus-que-parfait(pluperfect) and a main clause with a verb in the passé du conditionnel.

The Passé du Conditionnel and If-Clauses

The pattern described above where the main clause commonly contains a verb in the plus-que-parfait and the if-clause commonly contains a verb in the passé du conditionnel is known in French as la concordance des temps(the sequence of tenses). La concordance des temps refers to the required tense agreement between two clauses. The table below summarizes these matches for sentences with an if-clause.

Tense in If-Clause	Tense in Main Clause
présent de l'indicatif (present indicative)	présent de l'indicatif (present indicative) or présent de l'impératif (present imperative) or futur simple (simple future) or futur proche (near future)
imparfait (imperfect)	présent du conditionnel (present conditional)
plus-que-parfait (pluperfect)	passé du conditionnel (past conditional)

examples
Si j’avais su la vérité, je t’aurais prévenu. If I had known the truth, I would have warned you.
Ils ne se seraient pas perdus si le GPS avait fonctionné. They wouldn’t have gotten lost if the GPS had worked.
Elle t’aurait appelé si tu lui avais donné ton numéro. She would have called you if you had given her your number.

examples

Si j’avais su la vérité, je t’aurais prévenu.

If I had known the truth, I would have warned you.

Ils ne se seraient pas perdus si le GPS avait fonctionné.

They wouldn’t have gotten lost if the GPS had worked.

Elle t’aurait appelé si tu lui avais donné ton numéro.

She would have called you if you had given her your number.

2. Expressing Regret or Criticism

The passé du conditionnel is commonly used to express regret, disappointment, or sometimes criticism after the fact. In English, this often translates as should have, could have, or would have.

examples
Tu aurais dû m’appeler plus tôt. You should have called me earlier.
Ils auraient pu prévenir. They could have given notice.
On n’aurait pas dû attendre aussi longtemps. We shouldn’t have waited so long.
J’aurais aimé passer plus de temps avec eux. I would have liked to spend more time with them.

Verbs like aimer(to like), devoir(to have to, should), pouvoir(to be able to, could), and vouloir(to want, would like) are commonly used with the past conditional to express this kind of nuance.

3. Indirect Speech Referring to a Missed or Completed Action

The passé du conditionnel is also used in indirect or reported speech, especially after a reporting verb like dire(to say), croire(to believe, to think), penser(to think), or promettre(to promise), conjugated in a past tense. In these cases, it reflects a future relative to the past. You’re reporting an action that someone said they would have completed. It often reflects a plan that didn’t happen.

examples
Il a dit qu’il aurait terminé avant midi. He said he would have finished before noon.
Elle pensait qu’ils seraient partis plus tôt. She thought they would have left earlier.
Tu croyais qu’on aurait déjà mangé ? You thought we would have eaten already?

French Conversation

Let’s take a look at an example of a French conversation using the passé du conditionnel! Élise and Samira are chatting about their weekend plans that didn’t quite go as expected.

Élise:

Tu crois qu’on aurait évité la panne si on était parties plus tôt ?

Do you think we could have avoided the car breaking down if we had left earlier?

Samira:

Peut-être. En tout cas, on aurait dû vérifier le niveau d’huile avant de partir.

Maybe. In any case, we should have checked the oil before leaving.

Élise:

Et moi qui pensais qu’on aurait passé un week-end tranquille au bord du lac...

And to think we would’ve had a relaxing weekend by the lake...

Samira:

Si j’avais pris la bonne sortie, on ne se serait pas perdues.

If I had taken the right exit, we wouldn’t have gotten lost.

Élise:

Et sans cette pluie, on aurait pu monter la tente correctement.

And without the rain, we could have pitched the tent properly.

Samira:

Ouais… On aurait dû réserver un chalet, comme tu l’avais suggéré.

Yeah… we should have booked a cabin, like you suggested.

Élise:

Bon, au moins on se sera bien marrées.

Well, at least we’ll have had a good laugh!

Need More Practice?

Try conjugating verbs in the passé du conditionnel with our Conjugation Drill! With a little practice, the passé du conditionnel will become a natural part of your conversations in French.