agirait

Agirait is a French verb form, specifically the third-person singular conditional present of the verb agir, which means to act or to take action. In ordinary usage, it expresses what someone would do under certain conditions or what could happen if circumstances were different. It can appear in both hypothetical statements and polite constructions.

The conditional present in French is formed by using the infinitive as the stem and adding the conditional endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Therefore, agirait corresponds to the lui/elle/on form in the present conditional. Other related forms include j’agirais, tu agirais, nous agirions, vous agiriez, and ils agiraient. Although agir is irregular in some present-tense forms, the conditional uses the standard infinitive stem, so agirait follows the regular pattern of the other -ir verbs in conditional mood.

Usage notes include its frequent appearance in conditional clauses introduced by si, or in polite requests and hypothetical scenarios. It often conveys nuance such as hesitancy, consideration, or a hypothetical course of action, rather than a certainty about the present.

Etymology traces agir to Old French agir, from Latin agere, meaning to do or to perform an action. The form agirait reflects standard French mood and tense formation rather than a separate lexical item. Examples: Si nous avions le temps, il agirait autrement; Il agirait différemment s’il connaissait les faits.