📖LearnModule 6 · Lesson 14 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, first halfUnit 3 · Le conditionnel — would, could, should
Tu devrais — giving advice
Module 6 of the free French course (CEFR B1, first half), lesson 14 of 30: Advice is the conditional's day job: tu devrais dormir (you should sleep). 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 14.
The words
French
English
Say it
le conseil
the advice
luh koh(n)-SEHY
tu devrais dormir
you should sleep
tew duh-vreh dor-MEER
vous devriez essayer
you should try (polite)
voo duh-vree-ay ess-ay-YAY
à ta place
in your place
ah tah PLAHS
on pourrait
we could
oh(n) poo-REH
une bonne idée
a good idea
ewn bun ee-DAY
l'idéefeminine — the article elides to l'
the idea
lee-DAY
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
Advice is the conditional's day job: tu devrais dormir (you should sleep), vous devriez essayer (you should try), on pourrait partir tôt (we could leave early).
Et aussi · And also
À ta place, je resterais — in your place, I would stay. French advice comes as a courtesy, not a command; that softness is exactly what the conditional is for.
Attention · Watch out
Advice in the conditional keeps its person endings: tu devrais, vous devriez, on pourrait. And à ta place takes ta, because place is feminine.
devoir, conditionnel — the table
je devrais · tu devrais · il/elle devrait · nous devrions · vous devriez · ils/elles devraient
Do it now — on paper
Say all 7 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with le conseil.
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 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.