📖LearnModule 11 · Lesson 13 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, first halfUnit 3 · L'hypothèse et le regret
Le conditionnel des journalistes
Module 11 of the free French course (CEFR C1, first half), lesson 13 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 13.
The words
French
English
Say it
il y aurait eu
there were reportedly
eel ee oh-reh EW
selon
according to
suh-LOH(n)
d'après le journal
according to the paper
dah-preh luh zhoor-NAHL
le témoin
the witness
luh tay-MWA(n)
la source
the source
lah SOORS
démissionner
to resign
day-mee-syoh-NAY
confirmé
confirmed
koh(n)-feer-MAY
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
French newspapers use the conditional to report what is NOT yet confirmed: il y aurait eu trois blessés — there were reportedly three injured. Le ministre aurait démissionné — the minister has apparently resigned.
Et aussi · And also
Read it as a warning label: the conditional here means the writer does not vouch for it. Selon and d'après do the same job in the open.
Attention · Watch out
The journalists' conditional flags the unconfirmed: il y aurait eu trois blessés means there were reportedly three injured. Read it as 'allegedly', not as a hypothesis.
être, conditionnel passé — the table
je aurais été · tu aurais été · il/elle aurait été · nous aurions été · vous auriez été · ils/elles auraient été
Do it now — on paper
Say all 7 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with il y aurait eu.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out être, 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.