📖LearnModule 9 · Lesson 9 of 30Independent User · CEFR B2, completedUnit 2 · Le regret et le reproche
Regretter autrement
Module 9 of the free French course (CEFR B2, completed), lesson 9 of 30: Not every regret needs a conditional. 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 9.
The words
French
English
Say it
je regrette d'avoir dit ça
I am sorry I said that
zhuh ruh-greht dah-vwahr dee SAH
si seulement
if only
see suhl-MAH(n)
l'infinitif passémasculine — the article elides to l'
the past infinitive
la(n)-fee-nee-teef pah-SAY
le regret
the regret
luh ruh-GREH
nostalgique
wistful
nohs-tahl-ZHEEK
revenir en arrière
to go back
ruh-vuh-neer ah(n) nah-RYEHR
la décision
the decision
lah day-see-ZYOH(n)
assumer
to take responsibility for
ah-sew-MAY
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
Not every regret needs a conditional. Regretter de plus the past infinitive is shorter and very common: je regrette d'avoir dit ça — I am sorry I said that.
Et aussi · And also
Si seulement plus the plus-que-parfait is the wistful one: si seulement j'avais écouté. And dommage que takes a subjunctive, which you already own from Module 3.
Attention · Watch out
regretter de + past infinitive: je regrette d'avoir dit ça — avoir + participle after de. And dommage que takes the subjunctive.
avoir, conditionnel passé — the table
je aurais eu · tu aurais eu · il/elle aurait eu · nous aurions eu · vous auriez eu · ils/elles auraient eu
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with je regrette d'avoir dit ça.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out avoir, conditionnel passé 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.