📖LearnModule 6 · Lesson 11 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, first halfUnit 3 · Le conditionnel — would, could, should
Je voudrais — the polite conditional
Module 6 of the free French course (CEFR B1, first half), lesson 11 of 30: You have said je voudrais since the Basic band. 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 11.
The words
French
English
Say it
je voudrais un billet
I would like a ticket
zhuh voo-dreh uh(n) bee-YEH
le billet
the ticket
luh bee-YEH
pourriez-vous
could you (polite)
poo-ryay-VOO
pourriez-vous répéter?
could you repeat?
poo-ryay-voo ray-pay-TAY
je pourrais
I could
zhuh poo-REH
poliment
politely
poh-lee-MAH(n)
la demande
the request
lah duh-MAH(n)D
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
You have said je voudrais since the Basic band. It was the conditional all along: the future stem plus the imparfait endings. Vouloir gives je voudrais; pouvoir gives je pourrais.
Et aussi · And also
Pourriez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît? Je voudrais un billet pour Lyon. The conditional is French politeness in one tense — the difference between want and would like.
Attention · Watch out
pourriez-vous keeps the -iez of vous: pourriez-vous répéter? je pourrais has two r's, both in the stem (pourr-): the ending is -ais.
vouloir, conditionnel — the table
je voudrais · tu voudrais · il/elle voudrait · nous voudrions · vous voudriez · ils/elles voudraient
pouvoir, conditionnel — the table
je pourrais · tu pourrais · il/elle pourrait · nous pourrions · vous pourriez · ils/elles pourraient
Do it now — on paper
Say all 7 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with je voudrais un billet.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out vouloir, conditionnel and pouvoir, conditionnel 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.