What could have been
The present conditional says what would happen now or later: Je viendrais volontiers. The conditionnel passé says what would have happened in the past: Je serais venu volontiers – but I didn't come.
Three typical sentences
Nous serions restés plus longtemps.
We would have stayed longer.
Elle ne l'aurait jamais accepté.
She would never have accepted it.
Ils se seraient perdus sans le plan.
They would have got lost without the map.
The forms
Only the auxiliary in the conditional is new: aurais, aurais, aurait, aurions, auriez, auraient or serais, serais, serait, serions, seriez, seraient.
parler and venir
| Person | parler | venir |
|---|---|---|
| je | aurais parlé | serais venu(e) |
| tu | aurais parlé | serais venu(e) |
| il / elle / on | aurait parlé | serait venu(e) |
| nous | aurions parlé | serions venu(e)s |
| vous | auriez parlé | seriez venu(e)(s) |
| ils / elles | auraient parlé | seraient venu(e)s |
Past conditional with avoir and with être
The three uses
What did not happen
A phrase like sans toi, à ta place or avec plus de temps names the condition, and the conditionnel passé gives the result that failed to happen.
Sans toi, je ne serais jamais arrivé à temps.
Without you, I would never have arrived on time.
À ta place, j'aurais refusé.
In your place, I would have said no.
Regret and reproach
With devoir, pouvoir and vouloir in the conditionnel passé you say what would have been right or possible. The reproach stands alone, with no clause after it.
Tu aurais dû me le dire.
You should have told me.
On aurait pu prendre le train.
We could have taken the train.
Unconfirmed news
In the press, the conditionnel passé marks information the newsroom does not vouch for. English does this with reportedly, is said to have or allegedly.
L'incendie aurait fait trois blessés.
The fire has reportedly injured three people.
Le suspect serait entré par la fenêtre.
The suspect is said to have entered through the window.
The combinations with devoir, pouvoir and vouloir are fixed building blocks. After aurais dû and aurais pu comes a bare infinitive, with no preposition.
Regret, reproach, missed possibility
| French | English | Nuance |
|---|---|---|
| j'aurais dû partir | I should have left | regret, reproach |
| j'aurais pu partir | I could have left | missed possibility |
| j'aurais voulu partir | I would have liked to leave | unfulfilled wish |
| il aurait fallu partir | we should have left | impersonal necessity |
Past conditional + infinitive
English puts the perfect on the infinitive (should have left); French puts it on the modal (aurais dû partir). The infinitive that follows stays in its simple form.
