Free sample week · Year 12 ATAR
Si j'avais choisi autrement
Regrets about past choices — si-clauses, pluperfect/conditional perfect.
Unit 4 · Term 3 · Week 21 of 40
Learning intention
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to reflect on past decisions and their imagined alternative outcomes in French, using si + plus-que-parfait / conditionnel passé constructions to express unreal past hypotheses and their unreal past consequences.
Success criteria
- I can form si + plus-que-parfait / conditionnel passé sentences accurately, including past-participle agreement.
- I can understand written and spoken French texts expressing regret, reflection and hindsight (avec le recul).
- I can compose an extended personal reflection in French, using this grammar correctly across multiple sentences.
Key vocabulary & phrases
Grammar
Grammaire
Les phrases avec si + plus-que-parfait / conditionnel passé, partie 1
This construction expresses an unreal, past hypothesis and its unreal, past consequence — what would have happened if something else had happened, when neither did. The 'si' clause takes the plus-que-parfait (pluperfect: 'avais' / 'étais' + past participle), and the main clause takes the conditionnel passé (conditional perfect: 'aurais' / 'serais' + past participle). Official example: « S'il avait fait beau, nous serions sortis ensemble. » — If the weather had been nice, we would have gone out together. Both halves look back at a moment that is now closed: the condition did not happen (it wasn't nice), so the consequence did not happen either (they didn't go out). This is structurally the 'third conditional' students may recognise from English, but French is stricter than English about tense-matching: the 'si' clause is NEVER conditional in French (never *si j'aurais su*), only imperfect/pluperfect — a rule that also held for the present-hypothetical pattern (si + imparfait, would) students met in Year 11, and now extends one tense further back.
Si j'avais choisi les sciences plutôt que les langues, j'aurais peut-être étudié la médecine.
If I had chosen science rather than languages, I might have studied medicine.
Si nous n'avions pas déménagé à Lyon, mes parents n'auraient jamais rencontré leurs meilleurs amis.
If we hadn't moved to Lyon, my parents would never have met their best friends.
Si tu m'avais écouté, tu ne te serais pas trompé de filière au lycée.
If you had listened to me, you wouldn't have chosen the wrong stream at school.
Si elle avait pesé le pour et le contre plus longtemps, elle aurait pris une décision différente.
If she had weighed the pros and cons for longer, she would have made a different decision.
French vs English
English allows some flexibility in casual speech ('If I'd have known…', 'If I would have known…'), but standard French permits no such slippage: the 'si' clause is fixed at plus-que-parfait and can never itself carry a conditional form, however tempting that feels to an English speaker translating 'would have known' word for word. Keeping the two halves grammatically distinct — pluperfect in the condition, conditional perfect in the consequence — is non-negotiable in written French at this level.
Watch out for
The single most common ATAR-level slip is writing *si j'aurais su* instead of the correct 'si j'avais su' — carrying the conditional into the 'si' clause because that's what the English 'would have' suggests. A second, subtler mistake: forgetting agreement on the past participle with être-verbs and preceding direct objects in either half (e.g. 'elle serait partie', not 'elle serait parti'), which examiners weight heavily at this level because it signals real command of the compound tenses, not just vocabulary.
Check your understanding
Complète : « Si j'___ plus tôt, j'aurais réussi mon examen. »
Reading
Lecture
Le journal de Léa : mes choix de Première
Ce soir, en rangeant mes vieux cahiers de Première, je suis tombée sur mon ancien emploi du temps et j'ai passé une heure à repenser aux choix que j'ai faits cette année-là. Si j'avais suivi les conseils de ma conseillère d'orientation, j'aurais peut-être pris l'option « sciences économiques » au lieu de continuer avec les langues renforcées. À l'époque, je pensais que cela n'avait pas beaucoup d'importance, mais avec le recul, je me rends compte que chaque petite décision a compté. Je repense aussi à mon échange à Perth. Si je n'avais pas hésité pendant des semaines avant de m'inscrire, j'aurais eu plus de temps pour me préparer, et l'expérience aurait sans doute été encore plus enrichissante. Heureusement, je ne regrette pas d'y être finalement allée — mais je regrette d'avoir failli laisser passer cette occasion par peur de l'inconnu. Sami, lui, avait hésité entre le lycée général et une filière plus technique. « Si j'avais choisi la filière technique, m'a-t-il confié récemment, je serais probablement déjà en apprentissage maintenant, au lieu de préparer le bac. Je ne sais pas si j'aurais été plus heureux, mais j'aurais sûrement pris un chemin très différent. » Ces conversations me font penser qu'il n'y a jamais eu de mauvais choix absolu — seulement des chemins différents, chacun avec ses propres regrets et ses propres surprises.
What triggers Léa's reflection in the diary entry?
Listening
Écoute
Léa et Sami : et si on avait choisi autrement ?
What does Sami say he might be doing now if he had chosen the technical stream?
Writing
Écriture
Journal intime : si j'avais choisi autrement
Write a diary entry (in French) reflecting on a real or imagined past decision about your studies or a life choice, and how things might have turned out differently. Begin with a diary heading (day and date), write in the first person in a reflective, informal tone, and use at least four si + plus-que-parfait / conditionnel passé constructions (hypothetical regrets about the past). Length: 12-16 sentences.
0 mots
Self-check before you're done:
Your writing stays on this device only — nothing is uploaded yet. Compare your work to the model answer, or share your screen with your teacher for feedback. Full AI-marked writing feedback is the next thing we're building.
Speaking
Record yourself (or present to your class) reflecting on a past decision you made about your studies, and how things might have been different. Use at least three si + plus-que-parfait / conditionnel passé constructions and at least three vocabulary items from this week. Speak for about 60-90 seconds.
Recordings stay on this device only — nothing is uploaded yet. Tick off the checklist above as you listen back to yourself, or share your screen with your teacher if you'd like feedback now.
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