The future in the past: téléphonera → téléphonerait

Le futur dans le passé : téléphonera → téléphonerait

Dans le récit au passé, le futur devient souvent téléphonerait, écrirait, serait arrivé au lieu du futur direct.

(In a past narrative, the future often becomes téléphonerait, écrirait, serait arrivé instead of the direct future tense.)

Teacher explanation

What’s happening here: “future seen from the past”

In indirect speech, French often “shifts” tenses when the reporting verb is in the past.

Present viewpoint: I report it now → I can keep the future.
Past viewpoint: I reported it in a past story → the future becomes conditional.

Think in English: “He said he would…” (not “will”).

The core rule (the one you’ll use 90% of the time)

Direct speech / original time	Indirect speech with a past reporting verb	Meaning
futur simple Il téléphonera.	conditionnel présent Il a dit qu’il téléphonerait.	“would call”
futur antérieur Il aura livré.	conditionnel passé Il a dit qu’il aurait livré.	“would have delivered”

How to decide fast: a 3-step checklist

Locate the reporting verb (a dit, a annoncé, avait promis, a confirmé…).
- If it is past → you are in “past viewpoint”.
Ask: Is the action later than that past moment?
- Yes → use conditionnel présent.
- Yes, and it will be finished before a deadline → use conditionnel passé.
Keep the meaning, not the tense name.
- French conditional here is often not “hypothetical”—it’s simply “future in the past”.

Mini timeline: choose between conditional present vs past

Conditionnel présent = action is in the future (relative to the past reporting moment)
Conditionnel passé = action will be completed before another future point (relative to the past reporting moment)

What you want to express	French form in indirect speech (past)	Business-like example
Later action (still not done at that time)	conditionnel présent	Elle a confirmé que la réunion commencerait* à 9 h.*
Action completed before a deadline	conditionnel passé	Ils ont garanti qu’ils auraient finalisé* le rapport avant vendredi.*

Form reminders you actually need (no overload)

Conditionnel présent = infinitive + imparfait endings
- téléphoner- + -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient → téléphonerait
- Same “irregular stems” as the future: aur-, ser-, fer-, ir-, pourr-, devr-…
Conditionnel passé = avoir/être in conditionnel présent + past participle
- aurait livré, serait arrivé

The most common trap: keeping the future after a past reporting verb

Past reporting verb → don’t keep futur simple
- ~~Il a dit qu’il téléphonera.~~
- Il a dit qu’il téléphonerait.
Past reporting verb → don’t keep futur antérieur
- ~~Ils avaient promis qu’ils auront livré avant vendredi.~~
- Ils avaient promis qu’ils auraient livré avant vendredi.

What usually stays the same (so you don’t overcorrect)

Only the future tenses are targeted here: futur simple → conditionnel présent; futur antérieur → conditionnel passé.
Dates and deadlines can stay the same if the context is clear: demain, lundi, avant vendredi.
If you want to sound very precise in a narrative, you may adjust time words:

Direct	Often becomes in a past narrative
demain	le lendemain
la semaine prochaine	la semaine suivante
ici	là-bas (if the location changed)

Self-check: can you justify your choice in one sentence?

I used conditionnel présent because the action was still in the future from the past point of view.
I used conditionnel passé because the action was going to be completed before a later deadline (still from the past point of view).

Quick test: if English would naturally use would / would have, French will very often use -rait / aurait + participe passé.

The present conditional replaces the future in reported speech when the first verb is in the past.
The past conditional replaces the future perfect in reported speech when the first verb is in the past.

Changement	Discours direct	Discours indirect au passé
Futur → conditionnel présent (Future → present conditional)	Il dit qu’il téléphonera. (He says he will call.)	Il a dit qu’il téléphonerait. (He said he would call.)
Futur → conditionnel présent (Future → present conditional)	Il promet qu’il écrira. (He promises he will write.)	Il avait promis qu’il écrirait. (He had promised he would write.)
Action future vue du passé (Future action seen from the past)	Nous exporterons demain. (We will export tomorrow.)	Ils ont dit qu’ils exporteraient demain. (They said they would export tomorrow.)
Annonce rapportée (Reported announcement)	Le paiement arrivera lundi. (The payment will arrive on Monday.)	Il a annoncé que le paiement arriverait lundi. (He announced that the payment would arrive on Monday.)
Futur antérieur → conditionnel passé (Future perfect → past conditional)	J’écrirai dès que je serai arrivé. (I will write as soon as I have arrived.)	Il a dit qu’il écrirait dès qu’il serait arrivé. (He said he would write as soon as he had arrived.)
Action accomplie dans le futur (Action completed in the future)	Nous aurons livré avant vendredi. (We will have delivered before Friday.)	Ils ont promis qu’ils auraient livré avant vendredi. (They promised they would have delivered before Friday.)

Exercise 1: Multiple choice

Instruction: Choose the correct answer

1. Le transitaire a confirmé hier que le conteneur _____ au Havre lundi matin.

2. Le fournisseur avait assuré que la facture _____ envoyée dès que le bon de livraison serait signé.

3. Il a dit qu’il nous _____ une remise si nous commandions avant la fin du mois.

4. Le déclarant a précisé qu’ils _____ dédouané la marchandise avant vendredi, à condition d’avoir tous les documents.

Exercise 2: Rewrite the phrases

Instruction: Put the sentences into reported speech in a past narrative: replace the future tense with the present conditional and the future perfect with the past conditional (e.g. “Il dit : Je viendrai” → “Il a dit qu’il viendrait”).

Show/Hide translation Show/Hide hints

Le fournisseur dit : « Je vous enverrai le devis demain matin. »

⇒ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
Le fournisseur a dit qu’il nous enverrait le devis le lendemain matin.
(The supplier said that he would send us the quote the next morning.)
La responsable RH annonce : « Nous organiserons les entretiens la semaine prochaine. »

⇒ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
La responsable RH a annoncé qu’ils organiseraient les entretiens la semaine suivante.
(The HR manager announced that they would organize the interviews the following week.)
Le directeur promet : « Nous signerons le contrat avant la fin du mois. »

⇒ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
Le directeur a promis qu’ils signeraient le contrat avant la fin du mois.
(The director promised that they would sign the contract before the end of the month.)
Le chef de projet explique : « Je vous rappellerai dès que j’aurai reçu la confirmation du client. »

⇒ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
Le chef de projet a expliqué qu’il nous rappellerait dès qu’il aurait reçu la confirmation du client.
(The project manager explained that he would call us back as soon as he had received the client’s confirmation.)

Exercise 3: Multiple Choice

Instruction: Choose the correct sentence.