📖LearnModule 10 · Lesson 8 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridgeUnit 2 · L'hypothèse, les trois niveaux
Si + plus-que-parfait — le trop tard
Module 10 of the free French course (CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridge), lesson 8 of 30: Level three is over. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 8.
The words
French
English
Say it
si nous étions partis plus tôt
if we had left earlier
see noo zay-tyoh(n) pahr-tee plew TOH
nous aurions eu le train
we would have caught the train
noo zoh-ryoh(n) zew luh TRA(n)
inachevé
unfinished
ee-nahsh-VAY
le train
the train
luh TRA(n)
rater
to miss (a train)
rah-TAY
la conséquence perdue
the lost outcome
lah koh(n)-say-kah(n)s pehr-DEW
sous-entendu
implied
soo-zah(n)-tah(n)-DEW
amer
bitter
ah-MEHR
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
Level three is over. Si + plus-que-parfait, then the conditionnel passé: si nous étions partis plus tôt, nous aurions eu le train.
Et aussi · And also
Half of it can stand alone, and often does. Si j'avais su... trails off because everyone knows the rest. Learning to leave it unfinished is a genuinely French skill.
Attention · Watch out
si nous étions partis plus tôt, nous aurions eu le train: plus-que-parfait after si, conditionnel passé in the main clause. rater un train is to miss it.
avoir, conditionnel passé — the table
je aurais eu · tu aurais eu · il/elle aurait eu · nous aurions eu · vous auriez eu · ils/elles auraient eu
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with si nous étions partis plus tôt.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out avoir, conditionnel passé in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.