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Conditionnel passé
To talk about something that would, could, or should have happened—but didn’t—you need the conditional perfect, also known as the past conditional.
The conditional perfect is commonly used in si clauses: the conditional perfect explains what would or would not have happened, an action that was dependent upon something else happening or not happening, which is indicated by the past perfect.
Par exemple…
| Si j’avais su l’heure de ton arrivée, je t’aurais trouvé à l’aéroport. | If I had known your arrival time, I would have found you at the airport. | |
| J’aurais fini le travail si tu m’avais laissé tranquille. | I would have finished the work if you had left me alone. |
As you can see, both of these theoretical actions are in the past, and neither one occurred. I didn’t know your arrival time, so I didn’t find you at the airport, and since you didn’t leave me alone, I didn’t finish the work.
The conditional perfect can also be used without a dependent action, such as to express regret or to criticize.
Par exemple…
| Nous aurions aimé voir un film, mais le cinéma était fermé. | We would have liked to see a movie, but the theater was closed. | |
| Qu’est-ce que vous auriez fait, à ma place ? | What would you have done, in my position / in my shoes? | |
| Tu aurais dû manger avant de sortir. | You should have eaten before going out. |
In all of the above, the conditional perfect is used the same way in French and English.
But there’s one construction in which the conditionnel passé is used only in French: to report unconfirmed or hypothetical news.
Par exemple…
| L’orage aurait causé plusieurs millions d’euros de dégâts. | Apparently the storm caused millions of euros in damages. | |
| Le conducteur du véhicule serait gravement blessé. | The driver of the vehicle may be seriously wounded. |
Related lessons
- Conditional perfect conjugations
- PwLF super list of conditional perfect lessons
- Si clauses
- Conditional mood
- Compound modal verbs (could have, should have)
- Second form of the conditional perfect
- Introduction to verbs
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I use a lot of newspaper articles to try and brush up my french and this was driving me mad as I couldn’t find any rules about it. The resources that mention it say it’s journalistic for ‘It is said that’. My question is; can it be used in conversation for trivial things such as ‘It’s said that the newsagent is selling up and moving to Spain’ – Le propriétaire du tabac aurait vendu son affaire afin de partir en permanence en Espagne.
No, in conversation that would sound odd. I’d either say il a dû vendre (he must have sold) or on dit / j’ai entendu dire qu’il vend … (they say / I heard that he’s selling…).
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/compound-modal-verbs/
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/expressions/entendre-dire-exp/