If you like the French language, you will have noticed that between the future and the conditional, it’s a bit of a mess. Thus, we often read sentences such as “I’m sorry, I’ll be late” or “I’d like to please you”. What’s the problem? An extra or missing “s”. To find out, let’s go back to school for a moment.
The future does not take an “s”
The future indicative, which indicates an action or a state to come, is conjugated without an “s” in the first person singular:
- “I will eat when I am hungry.”
- “I’ll be late.”
- “I’ll be careful.”
- “I won’t talk about him anymore.”
The conditional takes an “s”
The conditional, which indicates an action or a state subject to one or more conditions, therefore a possibility, is conjugated with an “s” in the first person singular:
- “I would eat if I was hungry, but I’m not.”
- “If I knew what you were talking about, I could help you.”
- “I would like you to do your homework.”
- “If you feel like it, I’d go to the movies.”
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How to stop making mistakes?
To remember this once and for all, there is an easy trick. If the verb can be followed by “si”, which begins with an “s”, it is the conditional and it takes an “s”. If it can be followed by “quand”, it is the future and it does not take an “s”:
- I would eat if I was hungry.
- I will eat when I am hungry.
And it’s as simple as that.
