Published May 30, 2024 · Updated June 1, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier
Over the past 10 years of teaching French, students have repeatedly asked for a clear explanation of how to say would, could, and should in French. Understanding how to express these ideas requires knowledge of the imperfect and conditional tenses, as well as the verbs pouvoir (can, to be able to) and devoir (must, to have to). This lesson provides a concise explanation with practical audio examples.
Example Sentences
1. Would
The most common way to say would in French is to use the conditional tense. Hence, j’achèterais means “I would buy”.
J’achèterais la voiture si j’avais assez d’argent.
I would buy the car if I had enough money.
👉 French conditional explained »
For this second sentence, the meaning of would is “used to”. Here, the French use the imperfect tense.
Quand j’étais un enfant, je jouais dehors tous les jours.
When I was a child, I would play outside all the time.
⚠️ For this example, using the conditional to say “I would play” is wrong. Hence, you cannot say “je jouerais” to mean “I would play” in the sense of “I used to play”. You must use the imperfect: Je jouais.
👉 French imperfect explained »
2. Could
To say could as in “was able to do something” the French use the verb pouvoir (can, to be able to) in the passé composé followed by an infinitive.
J’ai pu apprendre tous les mots en très peu de temps.
I could learn all the words in very little time.
To say could as in “could you please” for making polite requests, use the verb pouvoir in the conditional. ➞ Pourrais-tu ? / Est-ce que tu pourrais ? = could you? (singular, informal)
➞ Pourriez-vous ? / Est-ce que vous pourriez ? = could you? (plural, formal)
Pourrais-tu me donner un coup de main, s’il te plaît ?
Could you give me a hand, please?
👉 Pouvoir conjugation (with audio) »
3. Should
To say should, use devoir (must, to have to) in the conditional. Hence, je devrais + infinitive means “I should + verb”.
Je devrais apprendre tous les temps des verbes en français.
I should learn all the French verb tenses.
👉 Devoir conjugation (with audio) »
To express should or shouldn’t have for regrets, use devoir in the conditional perfect (a.k.a. the past conditional).
➞ J’aurais dû + infinitive = I should have
➞ Je n’aurais pas dû + infinitive = I shouldn’t have
Tu n’aurais pas dû vendre la bagnole !
You shouldn’t have sold the car!
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