Couperais

Couperais is the first- and second-person singular form of the French verb couper in the present conditional. It expresses hypothetical actions or conditions, translating to “I would cut” or “you would cut” in English. It can also appear in polite or tentative requests when used in questions or conditional clauses.

Formation and usage. For regular -er verbs, the present conditional is formed by adding endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient to the infinitive stem. Since couper is an -er verb, its stem is couper-, yielding je couperais, tu couperais, il couperait, nous couperions, vous couperiez, ils couperaient. The final -s in couperais is not pronounced.

Examples and contexts. Use occurs in si-clauses or in main clauses to express hypothetical outcomes. Examples: Je couperais le pain si on me passait le couteau. Couperais-tu ces fils? Si j’avais le temps, je couperais le bois en portions égales.

Orthography and scope. Couperais is a verb form and not a noun. It is part of the regular conjugation pattern for -er verbs in French, and its meaning depends on the clause it appears in, commonly signaling hypothetical action, intention, or conditionalized statements in everyday speech.