PrepMyFrench
PrepMyFrench
Usage
French si-clauses (conditional sentences) follow three fixed tense patterns, and the tense directly after si is never the futur and never the conditionnel. Type 1 is si + présent → futur simple for real possibilities (Si j'ai le temps, je viendrai); Type 2 is si + imparfait → conditionnel présent for present hypotheticals (Si j'avais le temps, je viendrais); Type 3 is si + plus-que-parfait → conditionnel passé for past regrets (Si j'avais eu le temps, je serais venu).
si + présent → futur simple (or présent / impératif)
Type 1 handles conditions you consider genuinely possible. The si-clause takes the présent, and the result takes the futur simple for outcomes, the présent for general truths, or the impératif for instructions. This is the workhorse pattern of everyday planning.
Si j'ai le temps ce soir, je t'appellerai.
If I have time tonight, I'll call you.
Si tu chauffes de l'eau à 100 degrés, elle bout.
If you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils.
general truth → présent in both clauses
Si vous avez des questions, appelez-nous.
If you have questions, call us.
instruction → impératif
si + imparfait → conditionnel présent
Type 2 imagines a present or future that isn't real (or is unlikely). The si-clause takes the imparfait — even though nothing is past about the meaning — and the result takes the conditionnel présent. This mirrors English "if I had…, I would…".
This is also the pattern behind polite suggestions with the fixed opener si on + imparfait: Si on allait au cinéma ? ("How about going to the movies?") — a complete idiomatic sentence with no result clause at all.
Si j'avais plus d'argent, je voyagerais partout.
If I had more money, I would travel everywhere.
Si elle habitait plus près, on se verrait tous les jours.
If she lived closer, we would see each other every day.
Que ferais-tu si tu gagnais à la loterie ?
What would you do if you won the lottery?
si + plus-que-parfait → conditionnel passé
Type 3 looks back at a past that cannot be changed — regrets, reproaches, and near-misses. The si-clause takes the plus-que-parfait and the result takes the conditionnel passé. Because both clauses use compound tenses, this is where auxiliary choice and past-participle agreement get tested at the same time.
Si j'avais su, je ne serais pas venu.
If I had known, I wouldn't have come.
the most famous si-sentence in French
Si tu avais étudié, tu aurais réussi l'examen.
If you had studied, you would have passed the exam.
Elle serait arrivée à l'heure si le train n'avait pas eu de retard.
She would have arrived on time if the train hadn't been delayed.
clause order is free — si can come second
| Type | Si-clause | Result clause | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | si + présent | futur simple / présent / impératif | real possibility — Si j'ai le temps, je viendrai. |
| 2 | si + imparfait | conditionnel présent | unreal now — Si j'avais le temps, je viendrais. |
| 3 | si + plus-que-parfait | conditionnel passé | unreal past — Si j'avais eu le temps, je serais venu. |
Never put the futur or the conditionnel directly after si. French teachers drill this with the rhyme les si n'aiment pas les -rais ("si doesn't like -rais endings"). "Si j'aurais su" is the stereotypical error French children make — and the single fastest way to lose grammar points in an exam essay. The conditional lives in the other clause.
Si elides only before il and ils: s'il pleut, s'ils viennent — but si elle reste, si on y va. Writing "s'elle" is a real and surprisingly common mistake.
Not every si is conditional. In indirect questions, si means "whether" and follows its own logic, future allowed: je ne sais pas si elle viendra ("I don't know whether she'll come"). The no-future rule applies only to condition-si, not to whether-si.
Mixed types are legitimate when the time frames differ: Si j'avais écouté mes parents (past), je serais médecin aujourd'hui (present) — plus-que-parfait paired with conditionnel présent. Use it deliberately; it reads as sophisticated, not as an error.
Notice the staircase: each type steps one tense further back. Reality uses présent → futur; step back once and you get imparfait → conditionnel présent; step back again and you get plus-que-parfait → conditionnel passé. The further the tenses reach into the past, the further the sentence drifts from reality. If you remember the staircase, you can rebuild all three patterns from scratch mid-exam instead of memorising them as three unrelated formulas.
Si-clauses are the highest-yield structure in TEF/TCF productive tasks. Speaking Section B scenarios ("convince your friend…") practically demand a Type 2 — Si tu venais avec moi, ce serait plus agréable — and using one correctly is among the clearest B2 signals you can send. In writing, a Type 3 deployed in a narrative or complaint letter (Si le vendeur m'avait prévenu, je n'aurais pas acheté ce produit) demonstrates command of compound tenses, auxiliary choice, and agreement in a single sentence. Evaluators specifically flag si + conditionnel as a fossilised error: one "si j'aurais" can undo the impression built by an otherwise clean copy.
Not when si expresses a condition — never si + futur or si + conditionnel. But when si means "whether" in an indirect question, the future is fine: je me demande si elle viendra. Distinguish the two jobs of si and the rule becomes simple.
Always s'il and s'ils — si elides before il and ils only. Before every other word it stays si: si elle, si on, si un jour. "S'elle" does not exist.
Si presents the event as uncertain (if it happens); quand presents it as expected (when it happens). Quand does take the future: quand elle arrivera, on mangera — versus si elle arrive, on mangera, where her arrival is in doubt.
Même si, and it follows the same tense rules as plain si: même si j'étais riche, je travaillerais (Type 2). For "even though" with a fact rather than a hypothesis, French prefers bien que + subjunctive.
Match the type to your rhetorical move: Type 1 for proposals and consequences (si nous acceptons, nous gagnerons du temps), Type 2 for persuasion and imagined outcomes, Type 3 for complaints and regrets about what already happened. A B2 copy typically shows at least one Type 2 or Type 3 used accurately.