Irregular stems: same families as futur simple (venir, -voir…)
The Conditionnel Présent — Same Radicals, New Endings
The secret to the Conditional? It uses the exact same irregular radicals as the Futur Simple. The only difference is the endings, which come from the Imparfait: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
Model 1: The -ENIR Transformation (-iendr-)
- Specificity: The ending -enir turns into a strong -iendr- radical.
- Useful verbs: venir, tenir, devenir, revenir, retenir.
Conjugation of VENIR (Radical: viendr-)
| Subject | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| je | viendrais |
| tu | viendrais |
| il / elle / on | viendrait |
| nous | viendrions |
| vous | viendriez |
| ils / elles | viendraient |
Model 2: The -OIR Contraction (Simplified Radical)
- Specificity: The middle vowels are swallowed to create a contracted radical.
- Useful verbs: pouvoir (pourr-), vouloir (voudr-), devoir (devr-), voir (verr-).
Conjugation of VOULOIR (Radical: voudr-)
| Subject | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| je | voudrais |
| tu | voudrais |
| il / elle / on | voudrait |
| nous | voudrions |
| vous | voudriez |
| ils / elles | voudraient |
Model 3: The -RE Drop (Losing the "e")
- Specificity: Drop the final -e before adding the conditional endings.
- Useful verbs: vendre, attendre, prendre, boire, lire.
Conjugation of VENDRE (Radical: vendr-)
| Subject | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| je | vendrais |
| tu | vendrais |
| il / elle / on | vendrait |
| nous | vendrions |
| vous | vendriez |
| ils / elles | vendraient |
Model 4: The Double "R" Sound (Phonetic Reinforcement)
- Specificity: The radical takes a double -rr which is clearly audible.
- Useful verbs: courir (courr-), mourir (mourr-), envoyer (enverr-).
Conjugation of COURIR (Radical: courr-)
| Subject | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| je | courrais |
| tu | courrais |
| il / elle / on | courrait |
| nous | courrions |
| vous | courriez |
| ils / elles | courraient |
Key Takeaways
- The conditional stem = future stem.
- Group irregular stems by family:
- Transformers
- ser-
- aur-
- ir-
- fer-
- Double R
- verr-
- pourr-
- mourr-
- courr-
- enverr-
- D-Bridge
- viendr-
- tiendr-
- voudr-
- vaudr-
- faudr-
- Compressed
- saur-
- devr-
- recevr-
- pleuvr-
- Transformers
- Pronunciation matters: the stem sound stays close to the future.
- Mastering these stems helps you build most conditional sentences quickly.
In the app, you will find interactive exercises and quizzes tailored for this intermediate level.
Practice French conjugation for free in the Croissant Verbs app
Quizzes and spaced repetition for every tense, for free on your phone—plus short grammar guides on our Learn hub.
