Je voudrais un café.
I would like a coffee.
Tense guide
Conditional present
Express what would happen, polite requests, advice, wishes, and imagined situations.
When to use it
Use it for hypotheses, softer statements, and polite formulas such as je voudrais, pourriez-vous, or on devrait.
How to recognise it
It combines a future-style stem with imperfect-style endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
How to form it
Use the same stem as the future, then add the imperfect endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
A simple rule
If you know the future stem and the imperfect endings, you already have most of the conditional.
Examples
Nous partirions demain.
We would leave tomorrow.