Si Clauses French If-Then Clauses
Likely Situations In French, there are also constructions for expressing likely situations (the first conditional).
Likely Situations Present - Present This construction is used for things that happen regularly. Note that the si in these sentences could probably be replaced by quand (when) with little or no difference in meaning.
Likely Situations Present - Present S'il pleut, nous ne sortons pas - If it rains, we don't go out. Nous ne sortons pas s'il pleut - We don't go out if it rains. Si je ne veux pas lire je regarde la télé - If I don't want to read I watch TV. Je regarde la télé si je ne veux pas lire - I watch TV if I don't want to read.
Likely Situations Present - Future The present - future construction is used for events that are likely to occur. The present follows si; it is the situation that is required before the future action can take place.
Likely Situations Present - Future Si j'ai le temps, je le ferai - If I have time, I will do it. (present) (future) Je le ferai si j'ai le temps - I will do it if I have time. (future) (present) Si tu étudies, tu seras intelligent - If you study, you will be smart. (present) (future) Tu seras intelligent si tu étudies - You will be smart if you study. (future) (present)
Passé Composé + Present, Future, or Imperative It is also possible to have si clauses with the passé composé followed by the present, future, or imperative. These constructions are basically the same as the others; the difference is that the condition in the past rather than the present.
Passé Composé + Present, Future, or Imperative Si tu as fini, tu peux partir - If you have finished, you can leave. (passé composé) (present) Si tu n'as pas fini, tu me le diras - If you haven't finished, (passé composé) (future) [you will] tell me. Si tu n'as pas fini, dis-le-moi - If you haven't finished, tell me. (passé composé) (imperative - command)
Unlikely Situations Imperfect - Conditional The imperfect - conditional construction is used to express something that is contrary to present fact or unlikely to occur (the second conditional). This is what we have been looking at in class most recently. You have just completed a worksheet based on this form of si clause. The imperfect follows si; it is the condition that must be met before the conditional action can take place.
Unlikely Situations Imperfect - Conditional Si j'avais (le temps, je le ferais - If I had time, I would do it. (imperfect) (conditional) Je le ferais si j'avais le temps - I would do it if I had time. (conditional) (imperfect) (Fact: I don't have time, but if I did [contrary to fact], I would do it.) Si tu étudiais, tu serais intelligent - If you studied, you would be smart. (imperfect) (conditional) Tu serais intelligent si tu étudiais - You would be smart if you studied. (conditional) (imperfect) (Fact: You don't study, but if you did [unlikely to occur], you would be smart.)
Impossible/Hypothetical Situations The Pluperfect - Conditional Perfect This construction is used to express a hypothetical situation that is contrary to past fact (the third conditional). The pluperfect follows si; it is the event that would have had to be different in order for the other event (conditional perfect) to have been possible.
Impossible/Hypothetical Situations The Pluperfect - Conditional Perfect Si j'avais eu le temps, je l'aurais fait - If I had had time, I would have done it. (pluperfect then conditional perfect) Je l'aurais fait si j'avais eu le temps - I would have done it if I had had time. (conditional perfect then pluperfect) (Fact: I didn't have time so I didn't do it) Si tu avais étudié, tu aurais été intelligent - If you had studied, you would have been smart. (pluperfect then conditional perfect) Tu aurais été intelligent si tu avais étudié - You would have been smart if you had studied. (conditional perfect then pluperfect) (Fact: You didn't study so you weren't smart)
Des exemples
Et pour finir..
Use of lorsque, dès, quand and the future. When the action of the verb after certain constructions* will take place in the future, the future tense is used in French, whereas in English the present tense is used. Lorsqu il arrivera, il nous le dira When he arrives, he ll tell us Nous te donnerons un sandwich dès que nous l acheterons We ll give you a sandwich as soon as we buy it *après que (after), aussitôt que (as soon as), dès que (as soon as), espérer que (to hope that), lorsque (when), quand (when), une fois que (once)