📖LearnModule 11 · Lesson 12 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, first halfUnit 3 · L'hypothèse et le regret
J'aurais dû — le regret et le reproche
Module 11 of the free French course (CEFR C1, first half), lesson 12 of 30: . On this page: 7 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 12.
The words
French
English
Say it
j'aurais dû
I should have
zhoh-reh DEW
j'aurais pu
I could have
zhoh-reh PEW
il aurait fallu
it would have been necessary
eel oh-reh fah-LEW
tu aurais pu me le dire
you could have told me
tew oh-reh pew muh luh DEER
le reproche
the reproach
luh ruh-PROHSH
le regret
the regret
luh ruh-GREH
navré
terribly sorry (formal)
nah-VRAY
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
Three verbs in the conditionnel passé carry almost all regret: j'aurais dû (I should have), j'aurais pu (I could have), il aurait fallu (it would have been necessary).
Et aussi · And also
Turned outward it becomes reproach — tu aurais pu me le dire — so the tone matters as much as the tense. Softened with peut-être, it stays friendly.
Attention · Watch out
il aurait fallu is impersonal — it would have been necessary — and takes only il. navré is the formal désolé, and it agrees: navré, navrée.
devoir, conditionnel passé — the table
je aurais dû · tu aurais dû · il/elle aurait dû · nous aurions dû · vous auriez dû · ils/elles auraient dû
pouvoir, conditionnel passé — the table
je aurais pu · tu aurais pu · il/elle aurait pu · nous aurions pu · vous auriez pu · ils/elles auraient pu
Do it now — on paper
Say all 7 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with j'aurais dû.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out devoir, conditionnel passé and pouvoir, 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.