Understanding Si Clauses in French

Understanding 'Si' Clauses in French Si clauses or conditionals produce conditional sentences, with one clause stating a condition or possibility and a second clause naming a result produced by that condition. In English, such sentences are called if/then constructions. The French si, of course, means if in English. There is no equivalent for then per se in French conditional sentences. There are different types of si clauses, but they all have two things in common: The English result clause might be preceded by then, but there is no equivalent word preceding the French result clause. Si tu conduis, je paierai. If you drive, (then) Ill pay. The clauses can be in one of two orders: Either the  si clause is followed by the result clause, or the result clause is followed by the  si clause. Both work as long as the verb forms are paired correctly and si  is placed in front of the condition. Je paierai si tu conduis. Ill pay if you drive. Types of Si  Clauses Si  clauses are divided into types based on the likeliness of what is stated in the result clause: what does, will, would, or would have happened if....The first verb form listed for each type names the condition upon which the result depends; the result is indicated by the second verb form. First conditional: Likely / Potentiel   Present or present perfect present, future  or imperativeSecond conditional: Unlikely / Irrà ©el du prà ©sent Imperfect conditionalThird conditional: Impossible / Irrà ©el du passà © Pluperfect conditional perfect  Ã‚   These verb pairings are very specific: for example, in the second conditional, you can only use the imperfect in the si clause and the conditional in the result clause. Memorizing these pairings is probably the most difficult part of si clauses. Its important to memorize  the rules concerning the sequence of tenses. The term conditional here refers to the condition being named; it does not mean that the conditional mood is necessarily used in the conditional sentence. As shown above, the conditional mood is not used in the first conditional, and even in the second and third conditional, the conditional mood does not name the condition, but rather the result. First Conditional The first conditional refers to an if-then clause that names a likely situation and the result dependent upon it: something that happens or will happen if something else happens. The term conditional here refers to the condition being named; it does not mean that the  conditional mood  is necessarily used in the conditional sentence.  The conditional mood is not used in the first conditional. The first conditional is formed with the  present tense  or  present perfect  in the  si  clause, and one of three verb forms- present,  future, or  imperative- in the result clause.   Present Present This construction is used for things that happen regularly. The  si  in these sentences could probably be replaced by  quand  (when) with little or no difference in meaning. Sil pleut, nous ne sortons pas. / Nous ne sortons pas sil pleut. If it rains, we dont go out. / We dont go out if it rains.Si je ne veux pas lire, je regarde la tà ©là ©. / Je regarde la tà ©là © si je ne veux pas lire. If I dont want to read, I watch TV. / I watch TV if I dont want to read. Present Future The present future construction is used for events that are likely to occur. The present tense follows  si; it is the situation that is required before the other action will take place. Si jai  le temps, je le ferai. / Je le ferai si jai le temps. If I have time, I will do it. / I will do it if I have time.Si tu à ©tudies, tu rà ©ussiras lexamen. / Tu rà ©ussiras lexamen si tu à ©tudies. If you study, you will pass the test. / Youll pass the test if you study. Present Imperative This construction is used to give an order, assuming that the condition is met. The present tense follows  si; it is the situation that is required before the other action becomes a command. Si tu peux, viens me voir. / Viens me voir si tu peux. If you can, come see me. / Come see me if you can. (If you cant, then dont worry about it.)Si  vous  avez  de  largent,  payez  la facture. / Payez la facture si  vous  avez  de  largent. If you have money, pay the bill. / Pay the bill if you have money. (If you dont have any money, someone else will take care of it.) Passà © composà © Present, Future, or Imperative Si  clauses may also use the  passà © composà ©Ã‚  followed by the present, future, or imperative. These constructions are basically the same as above; the difference is that the condition is in the present perfect rather than the simple present. Si tu as fini, tu peux partir. / Tu peux partir si tu as fini. If you have finished, you can leave.Si tu nas pas fini, tu me le diras. / Tu me le diras si tu nas pas fini. If you havent finished, [you will] tell me.Si tu nas pas fini, dis-le-moi. / Dis-le-moi si tu nas pas fini. If you havent finished, tell me. Second Conditional   The second conditional* expresses something that is contrary to present fact or unlikely to occur: something that would  happen,  if something else happened. The term conditional here refers to the condition being named, not the  conditional mood. In the second conditional, the conditional mood is not used to name the condition itself, but rather the result. For the second conditional, use  si  Ã‚  imperfect  (stating the condition)   conditional  (stating what would happen). Si javais le temps, je le ferais. / Je le ferais si javais le temps. If I had time, I would do it. / I would do it if I had time. (Fact: I dont have time, but if I did [contrary to  fact], I would do it.)Si tu à ©tudiais,  tu  rà ©ussirais   lexamen. / Tu rà ©ussirais   lexamen  si  tu  Ãƒ ©tudiais. If you studied, you would pass the test. / You would pass the test if you studied. (Fact: You dont study, but if you did [unlikely to occur], you would pass the test.) Si  elle  vous  voyait,  elle  vous  aiderait./ Elle  vous  aiderait  si  elle  vous  voyait. If she saw you, she would help you. / She would help you if she saw you. (Fact: She doesnt see you so she isnt helping you [but if you get her attention, she will].) Third Conditional The third conditional* is a conditional sentence that expresses a hypothetical situation that is contrary to past fact: something that would have happened if something else had happened. The term conditional here refers to the condition being named, not the  conditional mood. In the third conditional, the conditional mood is not used to name the condition itself, but rather the result. To form the third conditional, use  si  Ã‚  pluperfect  (to explain what would have had to occur)   conditional perfect  (what would have been possible). Si javais eu le temps, je laurais fait. / Je laurais fait si javais eu le temps. If I had had time, I would have done it. / I would have done it if I had had time. (Fact: I didnt have time, so I didnt do it.)Si tu  avais  Ãƒ ©tudià ©,  tu  aurais  rà ©ussi   lexamen. / Tu  aurais  rà ©ussi   lexamen  si  tu  avais  Ãƒ ©tudià ©. If you had studied, you would have passed the test. / You would have passed the test if you had studied. (Fact: You didnt study, so you didnt pass the test.)Si  elle  vous  avait  vu,  elle  vous  aurait  aidà ©. / Elle  vous  aurait  aidà © si  elle  vous  avait  vu. If she had seen you, she would have helped you. / She would have helped you if she had seen you. (Fact: She didnt see you, so she didnt help you.) Literary Third Conditional In  literary  or other very formal French, both verbs in the pluperfect conditional perfect construction are replaced by the  second form of the conditional perfect. Si jeusse eu le temps, je leusse fait. / Je leusse fait si jeusse eu le temps. If I had had time, I would have done it.Si vous eussiez à ©tudià ©, vous eussiez rà ©ussi lexamen. / Vous eussiez rà ©ussi lexamen si vous eussiez à ©tudià ©. If you had studied, you would have passed the test.