📖LearnModule 6 · Lesson 12 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, first halfUnit 3 · Le conditionnel — would, could, should
Si j'étais riche — wishes
Module 6 of the free French course (CEFR B1, first half), lesson 12 of 30: Être gives je serais (I would be); avoir gives j'aurais (I would have). 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
si j'étais riche
if I were rich
see zhay-teh REESH
riche
rich
reesh
je serais content
I would be happy (m)
zhuh suh-reh koh(n)-TAH(n)
j'aurais le temps
I would have time
zhoh-reh luh TAH(n)
le château
the castle
luh shah-TOH
voyager
to travel
vwah-yah-ZHAY
le monde entier
the whole world
luh moh(n)d ah(n)-TYAY
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
Être gives je serais (I would be); avoir gives j'aurais (I would have). Si j'étais riche, j'aurais un château — if I were rich, I would have a castle.
Et aussi · And also
The pattern to memorize: si + imparfait, then conditionnel. The si half sets the dream; the conditional half lives in it.
Attention · Watch out
si j'étais riche: the si half is imparfait, the other half conditional. Never si je serais riche — the conditional stays out of the si clause.
être, conditionnel — the table
je serais · tu serais · il/elle serait · nous serions · vous seriez · ils/elles seraient
avoir, conditionnel — the table
je aurais · tu aurais · il/elle aurait · nous aurions · vous auriez · ils/elles auraient
Do it now — on paper
Say all 7 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with si j'étais riche.
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 and avoir, 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.