This tense basically describes and action that would happen, given certain condition. A clause beginning with if followed by a verb in the imperfect usually precedes the clause with the conditional verb. An example in English:

  • If I won the lottery, I would buy a mansion.

This tense is very easy to form. You take the future stem of the verb and add the imperfect endings this time. Consult those two pages for help. Here is an example of a verb conjugated in the conditional:

parler (to talk)
je parlerais=I would talk
tu parlerais=you would talk
il/elle/on parlerait=he/she/one would talk
nous parlerions=we would talk
vous parleriez=you would talk
ils/elles parleraient=they would talk

Here’s how it can be translated:

  • I/you/he/she/it/we/they would [verb].