Meaning of “Si” in French — French Vocabulary Lesson
“Si” is a small French word of many meanings.
French people use it a lot, for totally unrelated sentences. It can be easy to feel confused!
How can you use the word “Si” in French? And what does it really mean?
What rules does it follow, and in which sentences can it crop up?
Let’s dive in with these explanations and examples!
Learning goals: This is what you’ll be able to do after watching this lesson
Beginner: Use “Si” to say “Yes”
Intermediate: Use “Si” to say “If”
Advanced: Use “Si” to say “So much”
Bonjour I’m Géraldine, your French teacher.
Welcome to Comme une Française.
I’m here to help you get better at speaking + understanding everyday French — anytime, anywhere.
1) “Si” = If
In most sentences, Si means “If.”
We use it in sentences made of two parts. Those two parts can be:
Meaning of “Si” in French — French Vocabulary Lesson
A part that starts with Si + le présent + a part with le présent
→ Si je gagne, j’achète une voiture. (= If I win, I buy a car.)
A part that starts with Si + l’imparfait + a part with le conditionnel
→ Si j’étais riche, j’achèterais une nouvelle voiture. (= If I were rich, I’d buy a new
car.)
Le conditionnel is a special tense, that translates to “would.”
It’s made with l’infinitif + endings of l’imparfait.
(There are irregular exceptions for the stem.)
You can find the whole conjugation of le conditionnel présent here.
We use le conditionnel in a sentence with “Si”, or on its own for politeness (to soften an
affirmation) – just like in English!
Le conditionnel is NOT just used after Si, but
in the other part of the sentence as well. As
the French school kids’ mnemonic goes: “Les
“Si” n’aiment pas les “-rais.”” (= “Si” doesn’t like
“-rais”, the endings for the conditional)
Je voudrais une baguette, s’il vous plaît.
= I’d like a “baguette”, please.
It’s also a cute mistake by a kid character in
the famous French movie la Guerre des
Boutons : “Si j’aurais su, j’aurais pas venu.” This
catchphrase should be “Si j’avais su, je ne
serais pas venu.” (= If I’d known, I wouldn’t
have come), but the kid is young and innocent
so he messes up French grammar.
→ You can learn more tenses and conjugations, with step-by-step quizzes to test
yourself and help you learn, with my special program “Test Your Conjugation”.
Check out my recommendations for more
old French comedies here!
For example:
Si j’étais là, je serais heureux.
= If I were there, I’d be happy.
————————
Meaning of “Si” in French — French Vocabulary Lesson
You can use Si (= “If”) in many everyday
expressions or turns of phrases that you’ll
find in English as well. For example:
Même si (= Even if)
Je viendrai même si je suis malade. (=
I’ll come even if I’m sick.)
Si seulement (= If only)
Si seulement je pouvais ! (= If only I
could!)
Comme si (= As if)
Comme si c’était une surprise ! (= As if
it were a surprise!)
We also use “Si” in its contracted form (when
it comes before the vowel i) in the
expression s’il te plaît / s’il vous plaît (=
please) !
Discover more ways to say thank you in
French
Learn more common, polite French
greetings
Meaning of “Si” in French — French Vocabulary Lesson
2) “Si” = Yes ! (After a negative question)
In French, we use Oui to say “yes,” most of the time. For example:
“Tu as faim ?” “Oui !” (= “Are you hungry?” “Yes I am!”)
We don’t add a verb after “Oui” … which can be confusing after a negative question.
For example, take the question: “Tu n’as pas faim ?” (= Aren’t you hungry?)
If you answer “Oui”, do you mean “Yes, I’m hungry,” or “You’re right, I’m not hungry” ? If
you use “Non”, does it mean “No, I’m not hungry” or “No, you’re wrong, I’m not hungry” ? It’s
not a big problem, but it can make for blurry conversations.
French language resolves that ambiguity by using another word to mean “yes” after a
negative question: Si !
For example:
“Tu n’as pas faim ?” “Si !” (= “Aren’t you hungry?” “, Yes, I am hungry.”)
It’s also used to deny a negative affirmation!
“Tu n’es pas allé à l’école aujourd’hui.” “Si !”
(= “You didn’t go to school today.” “Yes, I did!”)
Go the extra mile by learning how to ask
questions in French using “Est-ce que” and
“Qu’est-ce que”.
Meaning of “Si” in French — French Vocabulary Lesson
→ Can you think of other examples of questions where you can answer “Si !” in French?
Write them in the comments below!
3) “Si” = So much
Finally, “Si” is also used to mean “So” or “So much.” For example:
Je suis si heureux de te voir ! (= I’m so happy to see you!)
It is kind of formal, though. In everyday spoken French, we’d rather use “tellement”
instead. For example:
Je suis tellement heureux de te voir ! (= I’m so happy to see you!)
That’s how Si is used in the famous French
jazz song C’est si bon (= “That’s so good!”)
that’s been covered by Louis Armstrong or
Yves Montand, among others. Nowadays we
could also say C’est tellement bon or C’est
tellement bien in everyday French – but it
doesn’t fit as well in a verse!
Meaning of “Si” in French — French Vocabulary Lesson
4) The extra mile : other uses of “Si” and “If”
Le “Si” is also a musical note in most languages. It’s part of la gamme (= the musical scale) Do Ré Mi Fa Sol La Si Do.
A French word with the same sound is la scie (= a saw.) You can make un si with une scie — a musical saw!
Finally, un if is a totally unrelated French word: it’s a tree, the common yew.
And now we’re done!
What did you learn today?
“Si” can mean “If,” and follows some grammar rules.
“Si” means “Yes” after a negative question or affirmation.
“Si” also means “So much”, like “tellement.”
“Si” is a musical note in French music.
And now:
→ If you enjoyed this lesson (and/or learned something new) – why not share this lesson with a francophile friend? You can talk about it
Meaning of “Si” in French — French Vocabulary Lesson
afterwards! You’ll learn much more if you have social support from your friends :)
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PS: If you want to learn more about French grammar and vocabulary, check out “this” short playlist that I put together for you. I’ll see you in the
next video.
Allez, salut :)
Géraldine