Deviendraient

Deviendraient is the third-person plural form of the French verb devenir in the conditionnel présent. It translates roughly as “they would become” in English and is used to express hypothetical or conditional outcomes, often dependent on another condition or situation. The form appears in both everyday and literary French, typically in contexts that discuss possibilities rather than certainties.

Formation: The conditionnel présent for devenir uses the future stem deviendr- with the imperfect endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Therefore, deviendraient is built from the stem deviendr- plus the ending -aient. This pattern is shared with other verbs that use the same stem in the conditional.

Usage: Deviendraient expresses hypothetical results or obligations under a condition. Examples include sentences like ils deviendraient riches (they would become rich) or ils deviendraient médecins s’ils poursuivaient leurs études. It can also appear in more formal or narrative contexts to convey what would happen under certain assumptions.

Notes: Deviendraient is a standard, grammatical form in modern French for the conditional mood and should not be confused with other tenses or moods that resemble its spelling. Its use tends to be more common in written or formal registers, especially in hypothetical or counterfactual statements.

See also: devenir; conditionnel présent.