The conditional for unconfirmed information
CEFR B2 · part 2
edumaterial's parts within the level. The European framework does not subdivide them.
The past subjunctive and sequence of tensesForming the past subjunctive and choosing between present and past depending on whether…Reflexive verbs and their agreementConjugating reflexive verbs with être and deciding whether the participle agrees…Nominalisation in written FrenchTurning a verb into a noun with French suffixes, and rewriting a spoken sentence the way…Faire, prendre, mettre and avoir beauLearning French fixed combinations whole, instead of translating them word by word.Accents and the cedillaPlacing é, è, ê and ç correctly, and knowing that in French an accent changes the sound…Gender that does not match your languageChoosing le or la for nouns whose gender does not match your own language.The rule, in three lines
The French press uses the conditional for information it has not confirmed: «le président serait malade», «il y aurait trois blessés». It is neither a hypothesis nor politeness: it is a «reportedly» tucked inside the verb.
The usual slip. Reading it as a fact. «Il y aurait trois blessés» does not say there are three injured: it says there reportedly are, and the paper is not vouching for it.
Why it catches you out. English marks unverified news with reportedly, allegedly or a source —the president is said to be ill— and never with a verb form. There is nothing in the English sentence to carry over, so the French tense reads as a plain statement.