The conditional of politeness in French
French Lesson 8 of conjugation: the conditional of politeness in French
Knowing the polite conditional in French is very important. In fact, to ask for something politely, French speakers use the conditional politeness. For example, in a business, to buy something politely, you should use conditional politeness. This lesson will also be useful for the DELF exams, in particular for the speaking test for DELF A1, A2 and B1. The video below will teach you how to use the polite conditional in French:
The conditional of politeness with the verb “vouloir” (to want)
For example, to order a coffee in a cafe. We don't say: “Je veux un café. = I want a coffee”. Indeed, this is rude. To order a coffee politely, we say, "Je voudrais un café, s’il vous plaît. = I would like a coffee, please."
Conjugation of the French verb “vouloir” in polite conditional (present conditional):
Je voudrais
Tu voudrais
Il / Elle / On voudrait
Nous voudrions
Vous voudriez
Ils / Elles voudraient
The conditional of politeness with the verb “aimer”
For example, to buy a train ticket, you can say: “J’aimerais un billet pour aller à Paris, s’il vous plaît. = I would like a ticket to go to Paris, please.”
Conjugation of the French verb “aimer” in polite conditional (present conditional):
J’aimerais
Tu aimerais
Il / Elle / on aimerait
Nous aimerions
Vous aimeriez
Ils / Elles aimeraient
Verbs often used in the conditional politeness
The politeness conditional is often used with the French verbs: aimer, avoir, désirer, être, pouvoir, préférer, souhaiter et vouloir.
To learn how to use the conditional politeness in French in context and learn how to make simple sentences with the polite conditional, you can study the French course: learn to shop at the market.
Once you have correctly mastered this conjugation lesson on the polite conditional in French, you can move on to the next French conjugation lesson:
You can find other French conjugation lessons by clicking here. You can also perfect your learning of the French language thanks to our:
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