French Conditional?

[gta]

I read [in Yahooanswers] that “there are two pasts in the French [sic] conditional...”

Explanation, please?

Thx!

[george.gauthierdc]

French Conditional Perfect
Conditionnel passé

Uses | Conjugations | Test

The French conditional perfect (also called the past conditional) is used just like the English conditional perfect. It is used to express actions that would have occurred in the past if circumstances had been different.

The conditional perfect is often used for the result clause in si clauses with the unmet condition in the pluperfect:

Si je l'avais vu, je l'aurais acheté.If I had seen it, I would have bought it.
Il serait venu si nous l'avions invité. He would have come if we had invited him.
The conditional perfect can also be used in a sentence where the unmet condition is only implied:

À ta place, je l'aurais dit.In your place, I would have said it.
Elles auraient dû acheter un plan. They should have bought a map.
Use the conditional perfect to express an unrealized desire in the past:

J'aurais aimé te voir, mais j'ai dû travailler.I would have liked to see you, but I had to work.
Nous aurions voulu manger, mais c'était trop tard. We would have liked to eat, but it was too late.
The conditional perfect can also report an uncertain / unverified fact, especially in the news:

Il y aurait eu un accident dans le métro. An accident in the subway has been reported.
Six Parisiens seraient morts.Apparently, six Parisians have been killed.

Second Form of the French Conditional Perfect
Conditionnel passé, 2ème forme

The second form of the French conditional perfect is a rather strange verb tense/mood. It is the literary equivalent of the conditional perfect and can easily be mistaken for the pluperfect subjunctive, since they are conjugated identically.

Like all literary tenses, the second form of the conditional perfect is used only in literature, historical writing, and other very formal writing, so it is important to be able to recognize it but chances are that you will never need to conjugate it. It is used mainly in literary si clauses.

The second form of the conditional perfect is a compound verb. It is formed with the imperfect subjunctive of the auxiliary verb (either avoir or être) and the past participle of the main verb.

PARLER

j'eusse parlénouseussions parlé
tueusses parlévouseussiez parlé
il
elle
oneût parléils
elleseussent parlé

SORTIR

jefusse sorti(e)nousfussions sorti(e)s
tufusses sorti(e)vousfussiez sorti(e)(s)
ilfût sortiilsfussent sortis
ellefût sortieellesfussent sorties

SE LAVER (verbe pronominal)

jeme fusse lavé(e)nousnous fussions lavé(e)s
tute fusses lavé(e) vousvous fussiez lavé(e)(s)
ilse fût lavéilsse fussent lavés
ellese fût lavéeellesse fussent lavées