📖LearnModule 8 · Lesson 26 of 30Independent User · CEFR B2, first halfUnit 6 · Argumenter par écrit
Les trois si, ensemble
Module 8 of the free French course (CEFR B2, first half), lesson 26 of 30: You have met all three si-constructions separately, here they are in one place. On this page: 8 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 26.
The words
French
English
Say it
si j'ai le temps, je viendrai
if I have time, I will come
see zhay luh tah(n) zhuh vya(n)-DRAY
si j'avais le temps, je viendrais
if I had time, I would come
see zhah-veh luh tah(n) zhuh vya(n)-DREH
si j'avais eu le temps
if I had had time
see zhah-veh zew luh TAH(n)
l'hypothèsefeminine — the article elides to l'
the hypothesis
lee-poh-TEHZ
réel
real
ray-EHL
imaginaire
imaginary
ee-mah-zhee-NEHR
la distance
the distance
lah dees-TAH(n)S
trop tard
too late
troh TAHR
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 met all three si-constructions separately; here they are in one place, because choosing between them is a B2 skill. Si + présent + futur: si j'ai le temps, je viendrai — a real possibility.
Et aussi · And also
Si + imparfait + conditionnel: si j'avais le temps, je viendrais — unlikely, or imagined. Si + plus-que-parfait + conditionnel passé: si j'avais eu le temps, je serais venu — too late, it did not happen. Three distances from reality, one word.
Attention · Watch out
None of the three si-levels takes a conditional or a future right after si: si j'ai, si j'avais, si j'avais eu. The conditional and the future belong to the OTHER half.
venir, conditionnel — the table
je viendrais · tu viendrais · il/elle viendrait · nous viendrions · vous viendriez · ils/elles viendraient
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with si j'ai le temps, je viendrai.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out venir, 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.