📖LearnModule 6 · Lesson 13 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, first halfUnit 3 · Le conditionnel — would, could, should
The hypothesis machine
Module 6 of the free French course (CEFR B1, first half), lesson 13 of 30: Run the machine on anything: s'il pleuvait, je resterais ici. 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
s'il pleuvait, je resterais ici
if it rained, I would stay here
seel pluh-veh zhuh res-tuh-reh ee-SEE
j'aimerais visiter Rome
I would love to visit Rome
zheh-muh-reh vee-zee-tay RUM
visiter
to visit
vee-zee-TAY
rester
to stay
rehs-TAY
imaginer
to imagine
ee-mah-zhee-NAY
la condition
the condition
lah koh(n)-dee-SYOH(n)
possible
possible
poh-SEEBL
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
Run the machine on anything: s'il pleuvait, je resterais ici. Si j'avais le temps, j'aimerais visiter Rome. Si tu venais, on jouerait ensemble.
Et aussi · And also
Watch what si + imparfait is NOT: it is not about the past. Si j'étais... means if I WERE — a hypothesis about now, painted with yesterday's tense.
Attention · Watch out
si + imparfait is a hypothesis about NOW, not the past: si j'avais le temps means if I had time today. A past-looking tense doing present work.
aimer, conditionnel — the table
je aimerais · tu aimerais · il/elle aimerait · nous aimerions · vous aimeriez · ils/elles aimeraient
Do it now — on paper
Say all 7 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with s'il pleuvait, je resterais ici.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out aimer, 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.