Correctly learn Si sentences in French

• Si clauses are conditional clauses, i.e. if-then constructions. A distinction is made between probable, improbable and impossible conditions.
• For German native speakers, the difficulty arises that the subjunctive form is used differently in French than in German. While in German it says: "If I were you, I would do that", so conditional forms in both parts of the sentence indicate that it is an if-then relationship of an improbable kind is not allowed in French in the part of the sentence with "si" no conditional or future tense stand.
• As a thought bridge: The rule is similar to that in English, where "if" cannot be used in the same part of a sentence as "would".

si conditions in the present

• Probable si-sentences in the present are formed according to the following pattern: si + present tense, future tense. "Si tu veux, tu pourras venir." (You can come if you want.)
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• You form improbable si-sentences in the present with the conditionnel in the clause that does not contain the "si": si + imparfait, conditionnel présent. "Si tu avais envie, tu pourrais venir." (If you feel like it, you could come.)


Infinitive clauses - learn French properly

You are learning French and are just getting to grips with infinitive clauses ...

• You can logically derive further tenses from these two basic forms. Remember that once a form has been learned, it must be applied many times and then used in free speech before it can be used fluently without much thought.
• Don't learn all of the shapes at once. First, look at the probable si-sentences and use them to write 10 or 20 sentences. Then look at the unlikely si-sentences and do as many examples.

Sentences with conditionnel in other times

• The third option that you learn as a scheme in French class is si-sentences with impossible conditions in the past. The sentence: "If you had wanted, you could have" translate as follows: "Si tu avais voulu, tu aurais pu", i.e. si + plus-que-parfait, conditionnel II.
• The three si-sentences presented are the basic schemes. However, this does not exhaust all the possibilities that you can express in conditional clauses.
• Just like you could say in German, depending on the purpose of the statement: "If you had found the book, you could have read it", or "If you had found the book, you could read it now", there are also different possibilities in French combine.
• If you want to put si-sentences in Conditionnel I in the past, the present tense becomes a passé composé: "Si tu as eu envie de venir, pourquoi tu n'es pas venu?"
• You can see that there are numerous possibilities in the combination. If you construct a logical sequence of tenses on the basis of the three basic schemes and dispense with future tense and conditionnel in the partial clauses with si, you will learn how to deal freely with conditional clauses, in which you can both adhere to the rules and express all the possibilities of the si-clauses.