auraient

Auraient is the third-person plural form of the French verb avoir in the present conditional mood. It translates to “they would have” in English and is used to express hypothetical possession, or more generally to convey contingent or hypothetical situations, including indirect speech and conditional clauses.

Formation: The conditional present forms of avoir are built on the stem aur- (the future stem) with the standard conditional endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Therefore, the forms include j’aurais, tu aurais, il/elle aurait, nous aurions, vous auriez, ils/elles auraient. The form auraient corresponds to ils/elles.

Usage: Auraient appears in several contexts:

- To express hypothetical possession: Ils auraient une voiture s’ils avaient assez d’argent.

- In conditional clauses about unreal outcomes: Ils auraient eu le temps de finir le projet s’ils avaient commencé plus tôt (past conditional construction with auraient eu).

- In indirect speech or reported speech: Elle a dit qu’ils auraient besoin d’aide.

Notes: Auraient requires a subject and a main verb in a dependent clause or another element to complete the idea; it cannot stand alone. It is often contrasted with avaient (the imperfect of avoir), which states a past possession or condition rather than a hypothetical one.

Etymology: The form derives from the infinitive avoir, using the future stem aur- and the regular conditional endings, a pattern common to French verb conjugation. The underlying verb avoir itself comes from Latin habēre.

See also: avoir, conditional mood, French verb conjugation.