FRENCH IF-CLAUSES

I) The following if-clauses can be translated directly from English
to French: 

  1) Si + present, future:  S'il arrive, nous partirons. 
		            If he arrives, we will leave.
  2) Si + present, present (habitual):  Si elle travaille, nous jouons.
			 	        If she works, we play.			
  3) Si + present, imperative:  S'il arrive, criez!
				If he arrives, scream!

to copy grammar explanations

Exercises: Click for vocabulary help  
  1) If it rains, go home.
 
  2) If he talks to her, she does not respond.

  3) If they approach us, we will flee.

  4) You will do the cooking if she stays with us.

  5) He bothers us if we try to work.

  6) Get angry if they do that again!

II) The following if-clauses do not always translate directly from English 
to French:

  1) Si + imperfect, conditional present (hypothetical):
        S'il arrivait, nous partirions.
        If he arrived (were to arrive), we would leave.
        Nous nous inquiéterions si tu nous oubliais. 
        We would worry if you forgot us.

  2) Si + pluperfect, past conditional (counter-factual).
       Si elle était venue, j'aurais fait mes devoirs hier.
       If she had come (but she didn't), I would have done 
	my homework yesterday.

  3) Si + pluperfect, present conditional.
       S'il était arrivé, je serais content maintenant.
       If he had arrived, I would be happy now.

Careful! Many English speakers now replace "if he had come" with 
"if he would have come."  The translation, however, remains 
"s'il était venu." 
Remember! In a clause beginning with "si," only three tenses are generally
possible:  present, imperfect, and pluperfect.  Sometimes the passé composé
is used, but never the conditional or the future.

Exercises: Click for vocabulary help  
7) If they married, we would lose our best friends.

8) If John had dared to speak, he would have saved us.

9) If we had lied, everything would now be worse.

10) We would never have left, if you had mentioned the rain.

11) I would be rich, if my parents had lent me enough money.

12) They would push us away if we asked them to help us.

13) If we would have known (sic), we wouldn't have come.

    

Vocabulary:
to approach someone=s'approcher de qqn.
to flee=fuir
to do the cooking=faire la cuisine
to marry=se marier
to mention=mentionner
to dare=oser
to lend=prêter
to push away=repousser
to return home=rentrer
to bother=deranger

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