Skip to content
VirtusAcademy

The Conditional of -er Verbs

HigherHigher tier onlyAQA

Learn The Conditional of -er Verbs for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Higher tier exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). The conditional is formed from the future stem with imperfect endings, meaning would do something.

Free downloads

These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.

This is a Higher tier only topic, so there's no Foundation paper — only the Higher worksheet and mark scheme below.

Higher

WorksheetHigher · PDFMark SchemeHigher · PDF

Topic overview

The conditional says what would happen, and it combines the future stem with the imperfect endings. This is a Higher-only topic.

For -er verbs, take the whole infinitive as the stem, then add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. So parler gives je parlerais, tu parlerais, il parlerait, nous parlerions, vous parleriez, ils parleraient.

The conditional is often described as future stem plus imperfect endings, which is exactly right and worth remembering. The difference from the future is one letter: je parlerai is I will speak, je parlerais is I would speak. In speech they sound almost identical, so the spelling carries the whole meaning.

Revision notes

The formation

Future stem plus imperfect endings.

For -er verbs the stem is the whole infinitive. Add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Je parlerais, tu parlerais, il parlerait, nous parlerions, vous parleriez, ils parleraient.

Future versus conditional

Je parlerai is the future — I will speak.

Je parlerais is the conditional — I would speak. One letter separates them, and they sound almost identical, so the spelling carries the entire difference in meaning.

When it is used

For polite requests: je voudrais, j'aimerais.

For hypothetical situations: si j'avais de l'argent, j'achèterais une voiture. The si clause takes the imperfect and the main clause takes the conditional.

Key points

  • The conditional says what would happen.
  • It uses the future stem.
  • It takes the imperfect endings.
  • Je parlerai is future, je parlerais conditional.
  • One letter separates them.
  • It is used for polite requests.

Worked examples

Example 1

Give the je form of the conditional of parler. [2 marks]

Working

je parleraisadd the imperfect ending to the future stem
The stem is the whole infinitive and the ending is -aisexplain the formation

Example 2

Explain the difference between je parlerai and je parlerais. [2 marks]

Working

Je parlerai is the future, meaning I will speakexplain the future
Je parlerais is the conditional, meaning I would speakexplain the conditional

Example 3

Give the nous form of the conditional of manger. [2 marks]

Working

nous mangerionsuse the infinitive stem with the -ions ending
The imperfect ending -ions is added to the future stem manger-explain the formation

Common mistakes

  • Using the future endings.

    The conditional takes the imperfect endings.

  • Dropping the r from the stem.

    The conditional always keeps the future stem's r.

  • Confusing -ai with -ais.

    One letter changes will into would.

  • Using the future in a si clause.

    Si takes the imperfect and the main clause the conditional.

Exam tips

  • Remember future stem plus imperfect endings.
  • Write -ais, not -ai, for the conditional.
  • Keep the r of the stem.
  • Remember this is a Higher-only topic.

Key terms

Conditional
A tense expressing what would happen.
Future stem
The stem shared by future and conditional.
Imperfect endings
-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
Hypothetical
An imagined situation, taking the conditional.

Related topics

Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.