We don't like this fish in French

Les SI n'aiment pas les RAIS

Apr 10, 2024

grey stingrays underwater photography — Photo by Sense Atelier on Unsplash

I admit it. This title is clickbait…

A ray in French is une raie. The animal in the photo is une raie manta.

We don’t have anything against rays in French. But there’s a rule that every French-speaking child learns in elementary school.

LES SI N’AIMENT PAS LES RAIS

Here, we're discussing a different type of ray. We're referring to the use of the conditional tense.

Here's an excerpt from one of the most renowned grammar books used by French-speaking students, Le Bescherelle.

« Ah ben mon vieux, si j’aurais su, j’aurais pas venu », pleurniche Petit Gibus dans La Guerre des boutons, un charmant film adapté d’un roman français et sorti dans les années 1960. Cette réplique est devenue rapidement mythique pour toute une génération. (…)
Mais la notoriété de cette citation découle surtout des deux magistrales fautes de conjugaison qu’elle contient à elle seule : le mauvais emploi du conditionnel dans le premier verbe et l’erreur d’auxiliaire dans le second. (…)
La phrase correcte est bien sûr : « …si j’avais su, je ne serais pas venu. » (…)
La règle est que lorsqu’on emploie la conjonction si, qui exprime déjà une condition, il est inutile de la doubler d’un verbe conjugué au conditionnel. Un moyen mnémotechnique traditionnel pour assimiler cette règle est de mémoriser la phrase « Les scies n’aiment pas les raies », ou plus simplement, «Les si n’aiment pas les rais».

The correct phrase would be

Ah ben mon vieux, si j’avais su, je ne saurais pas venu!

Let’s practice si + imparfait

We’ll start by creating conditional sentences with si:

Je l’aurais fait si j’avais su
I would have done it if I had known
Si seulement on avait ce système!
If we had this system
Si j’avais plus d’argent…
If I had more money
Si j’étais moins fatigué…
If I weren’t so tired…

Let’s add the conditional

Now that you know how to use the conditional si, you’re ready to add the actual conditional tense.

The first level is to combine the past tense (imperfect) with a simple conditional.

Si j’avais plus d’argent, j’achèterais un bateau
If I had more money, I would buy a boat

The next level is to use the imperfect with si, combined with a conditional past. When the imperfect is in the past, it’s called the plus-que-parfait

Si je l’avais su, je ne l’aurais pas fait
If I had known, I wouldn’t have done it

The tense of regret

person standing in the middle of wheat field — Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

Of all the verb tenses, the conditionnel passé is the one that causes the most trouble.

For example:

Si la police avait eu toute l’information nécessaire, ce criminel aurait été arrêté avant
If the police had all the necessary information, this criminal would have been arrested before
J’aurais dû me retenir avant de dire n’importe quoi!
I should have stopped myself before saying such nonsense!
Je ne l’aurais pas fait, si j’avais su
I wouldn't have done it if I had known

I call the conditionnel passé the tense of regret because it tends to hypothesize what could have been done in a certain situation, if something had been done differently.

Even though it sounds difficult, it’s actually very easy to use. You just have to know how to conjugate avoir and être in the conditional.

Avoir

J'aurais
Tu aurais
Il/elle/on aurait
Nous aurions
Vous auriez
Ils/elles auraient

Être

Je serais
Tu serais
Il/elle/on serait
Nous serions
Vous seriez
Ils/elles seraient

Then, you just conjugate the verb and add the passé composé, and you’re done

Je l’aurais fait
I would have done it
J’y serais allé
I would have gone (there)
Tu aurais eu le temps
You would have had time
Vous seriez allés
You would have gone

Si is not automatically conditional

Si can also be used in the present tense. It just can’t be used with the conditional.

Here are some examples from local newspapers.

Si on enlève cela aux Libéraux, il ne leur reste plus grand-chose. Si Pierre Poilievre est capable de s’assurer ces trois groupes, il passe
Si le premier ministre mène une campagne du tonnerre, il pourrait peut-être contraindre Pierre Poilievre à former un gouvernement minoritaire à l’issue du prochain scrutin

Exercise #1

Translate into French.

If I had known.
If I could.
If I had gone there.
I would have done it.
He would have gone there.
She would have eaten the apple.
They would have had (the) time.
If I were younger, I would party less.
If I read more in French, I would speak better.
If I ever go to Montreal, I’ll try poutine. (If I go one day…)

Exercise #2