French · Intermediate (B1) · Chapter 5 of 12
Hopes and wishes
Rêves et souhaits
Say what you would do with the conditional, imagine situations with si + imparfait, and talk about hopes and dreams.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Say what you would do with the conditional
- Imagine a situation with si + imparfait
- Talk about hopes and dreams with j'espère que and j'aimerais que
Listen
At lunchtime in La Rochelle, the colleagues Karine and Didier talk about what they would do if they won the lottery. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Karine
Didier, tu as joué au loto cette semaine ?
Didier, did you play the lottery this week?
Didier
Oui, comme toutes les semaines. Il y a vingt millions d'euros à gagner.
Yes, like every week. There are twenty million euros to win.
Karine
Et si tu gagnais, qu'est-ce que tu ferais ?
And if you won, what would you do?
Didier
D'abord, j'arrêterais de travailler. Ensuite, j'achèterais un bateau et je ferais le tour du monde.
First I'd stop working. Then I'd buy a boat and sail around the world.
Karine
Tout seul ?
On your own?
Didier
Non, avec ma femme, bien sûr. Et j'aimerais que nos enfants viennent avec nous pendant les vacances.
No, with my wife, of course. And I'd like our children to come with us in the holidays.
Karine
Ce serait super. Moi, si j'avais beaucoup d'argent, j'aiderais d'abord ma famille.
That would be great. If I had a lot of money, I'd help my family first.
Didier
Et tu garderais ton travail ?
And would you keep your job?
Karine
Oui, je crois. J'aime bien mon travail. Mais je voudrais partir plus souvent en voyage.
Yes, I think so. I like my job. But I'd like to travel more often.
Didier
Tu irais où ?
Where would you go?
Karine
Au Japon. C'est mon rêve.
To Japan. It's my dream.
Didier
Alors, j'espère qu'on gagnera un jour. Mais pour l'instant, au travail.
Well, I hope we'll win one day. But for now, back to work.
Understand
The conditional: I would…
The (conditional) says what would happen: (I would buy a boat). You already know a few forms as polite phrases: , , .
To form it, take the stem of the futur simple and add the imparfait endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Verbs with an irregular future stem use the same stem: → , → . (future) and (conditional) sound very similar, so listen to the context.
After a verb of saying in the past, the conditional also replaces the future: , but (He said he would come).
| Infinitive | Future stem | Conditional |
|---|---|---|
| aimer- | ||
| achèter- | ||
| ser- | ||
| aur- | ||
| fer- | ||
| ir- | ||
| pourr- | ||
| devr- |
If I won…: si + imparfait + conditional
To imagine a situation that isn't real now, use + imparfait for the condition and the conditional for the result: (If I won the lottery, I would stop working). The two parts can come in either order.
Never put the conditional straight after : say , not si j'aurais.
- Si j'avais beaucoup d'argent, j'aiderais ma famille.If I had a lot of money, I'd help my family.
- Qu'est-ce que tu ferais si tu gagnais ?What would you do if you won?
- Si on avait le temps, on irait au Japon.If we had the time, we'd go to Japan.
Hopes and wishes
(to hope that) takes the normal indicative, often the future: It's an exception among feelings: no subjunctive after it.
To say what you would like someone else to do, use or + subjunctive: For yourself, use the infinitive: To talk about a dream, say + infinitive:
- J'espère qu'il fera beau demain.I hope the weather will be nice tomorrow.
- Je voudrais que tu m'aides.I'd like you to help me.
- Ce serait bien de partir en mai.It would be nice to go away in May.
More in the grammar: Reported speech: il a dit que… · The conditional: je voudrais, si j'avais… · The subjunctive: que je sois, que tu fasses
New words
- jouer au lototo play the lottery
- gagnerto win; to earn
- arrêter deto stop (doing) ·
- le bateauboat
- faire le tour du mondeto go around the world
- seul / seulealone · : on your own
- les enfantschildren ·
- les vacancesholidays · always plural
- aiderto help
- partir en voyageto go travelling, to go on a trip
- le rêvedream · : to dream of
- espérerto hope ·
- un jourone day, some day
- pour l'instantfor now, for the moment
Practise
1.“If I won, I would buy a boat.” Which sentence is correct?
2.Complete with the conditional of .
What would you do if you won the lottery?
3.Complete with the imparfait of .
If I had a lot of money, I'd help my family.
4.Which sentence is correct?
5.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.What would you do with the money?
6.Match the French with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Si je gagnais au loto, je ferais le tour du monde.
If I won the lottery, I'd go around the world.
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.