In the following proposals
Et si on faisait un pique-nique?
I do not understand why an author uses imparfait, whereas in the sentence
On pourrait aller dans la forêt
as you can see conditionnel présent is used.
Please explain
Gilles 'SO nous est hostile'
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asked Aug 22, 2013 at 14:18
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1How different is it different from English? You would use What if we went on a pique-nique? or We could go to the forest, respectively using preterit and conditionnal.– Alexis PigeonAug 22, 2013 at 14:36
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@AlexisPigeon Could you please enlighten, how to make out whether there is a condition involved or not? (I tend to think of it as follows—if X happens then Y happens...)– Abhimanyu AroraAug 22, 2013 at 14:45
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1 Answer
In your first example, the use of imparfait comes because of the si. Let's continue the example:
Si on faisait un pique-nique, on mangerait bien.
Si introduces a condition, and thus should always be followed by imparfait. And then, the next verb is conditionnel.
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Of course a condition is not necessarily in imparfait. If not about proposals, present is possible as well. Aug 24, 2013 at 17:44