Conditional clauses in French

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Type 1. Real or potential - the open conditional statement :

This is used to express a present or future situation (in the main clause) which is conditional on another present or future event (expressed in the conditional clause). The conditional clause usually comes first, but may follow the main clause in some circumstances.

• Examples 1 - 4. The verb of the main clause is in the present or future tense, and the verb of the conditional clause is in the present tense.
• Example 5.  In reported indirect speech the verb of the conditional clause may be in the future tense.
• Example 6.  If the open conditional refers to past habit (example 6) , then both verbs are typically in the imperfect tense (l'imparfait).

In an open conditional statement, si is sometimes replaced by quand: but there is a difference. Using "si" implies a possibility, whereas using "quand" implies certainty or probability.

Type 2 si clauses - the hypothetical present or future:

This structure refers to an imaginary or hypothetical situation in the present or future. It describes what would happen if the current or future reality were different . 
    The verb in the conditional clause uses the imperfect tense to express a hypothetical condition introduced by si (or the present subjunctive after à moins que.)
     The verb in the main clause uses the conditional tense (le conditionnel présent) to express the result.

Conjugation of the conditional tense - sample verb porter.
    Je porterais ,  tu porterais ,  il porterait,   nous porterions,  vous porteriez,  ils porteraient

Type 3 si clauses - the unfulfilled hypothesis (past)

This refers to a past situation which might have taken place, but did not, because a condition was not fulfilled.
The verb of the main  clause goes in the past conditional (conditionnel passé).
The verb of the conditional clause goes in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait).
 Examples:
 Conjugation of the past conditional tense - sample verb porter.
    J'aurais porté,  tu aurais porté,  il aurait porté,  nous aurions porté,  vous auriez porté, ils auraient porté

Note: using " à moins que"

"À moins que" (unless) is followed by the subjunctive and usually the "ne explétif". It expresses a restriction or an exception to the main clause. A moins que is not too often used in modern French, when a simpler alternative is possible using si.

4  Omission of  "si"

In rather formal French, the second form of the past conditional (which looks like the pluperfect subjunctive) can replace the pluperfect after si or even stand alone to express a condition.

Examples:

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