This cheat sheet covers the French future simple and conditional tenses, two forms that help students talk about what will happen and what would happen. Students need these tenses to understand stories, conversations, plans, polite requests, and hypothetical situations. The reference connects both tenses so learners can see how their stems and endings are related.
It is especially useful for reviewing conjugation patterns before writing or speaking tasks.
The future simple usually uses the infinitive as the stem plus endings like -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, and -ont. The conditional usually uses the same future stem plus imperfect endings like -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, and -aient. Many common verbs have irregular stems that are shared by both tenses, such as ser-, aur-, ir-, fer-, and verr-.
Si clauses follow set tense patterns, such as si + present with future and si + imperfect with conditional.
Key Facts
- The future simple is formed with future stem + -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont.
- For most -er and -ir verbs, the future stem is the infinitive, as in parlerai, finirons, and choisirez.
- For regular -re verbs, remove the final e before adding future endings, as in vendre + ai = vendrai.
- The conditional is formed with the same future stem + -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
- The future simple means will do something, as in je voyagerai = I will travel.
- The conditional means would do something or could be used for polite requests, as in je voudrais = I would like.
- Common shared irregular stems include être = ser-, avoir = aur-, aller = ir-, faire = fer-, venir = viendr-, pouvoir = pourr-, vouloir = voudr-, and voir = verr-.
- A common si clause pattern is si + present, then future, as in Si j'étudie, je réussirai.
Vocabulary
- Future simple
- A French tense used to say what will happen in the future.
- Conditional
- A French mood used to say what would happen, to make polite requests, or to express hypothetical actions.
- Stem
- The base part of a verb that endings are added to.
- Irregular stem
- A verb base that does not follow the regular infinitive pattern in the future or conditional.
- Si clause
- A clause beginning with si that states a condition for another action.
- Imperfect endings
- The endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, and -aient used to form the conditional with a future stem.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using the conditional ending with a present stem, such as je finissais for I would finish, is wrong because the conditional needs the future stem: je finirais.
- Forgetting to drop the final e from -re verbs in the future, such as je vendreai, is wrong because the correct form is je vendrai.
- Using the future tense after si in the same clause, such as si j'aurai le temps, is wrong because si + present is used for real future conditions: si j'ai le temps.
- Mixing future and conditional meanings is wrong because je parlerai means I will speak, while je parlerais means I would speak.
- Using regular stems for irregular verbs, such as je êtreai or je allerais, is wrong because être uses ser- and aller uses ir-: je serai and j'irais.
Practice Questions
- 1 Conjugate parler in the future simple for nous.
- 2 Conjugate avoir in the conditional for je.
- 3 Complete the sentence with the correct tense: Si elle étudie, elle _____ l'examen. Use réussir.
- 4 Explain the difference in meaning between je ferai mes devoirs and je ferais mes devoirs.