A chaque fois vs chaque fois

Question

1. When is "à chaque fois" used?2. Also, does the "enfin" change the meaning of pourrais from "could" to "would be able to" or is that just deciphered by context?

Accepted Answer

Bonjour à tous,
Chris's first answer about 'enfin' and 'could' is correct: 'enfin' doesn't change the meaning of 'pourrais'. As for 'à chaque fois que / chaque fois que', both are correct as per L'Académie française - see link here: à chaque fois que / chaque fois que
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

When you refer to a specific time (e.g., à 7 heures) you use the preposition à. "Every time" in French is also considered a time reference and requires à.

Regarding your second question: no, enfin has nothing to do with it. It's entirely a matter of English. The modal verb "can" becomes "could" in the conditional. But "can" may also be expressed as "to be able to", which turns into "would be able to" in the conditional. In French, the conditional of pouvoir is pourrais (I could = I would be able to).

Answer

Hi Danielle. When to use "chaque fois que ..." or "à chaque fois que ... "? That's a good question. In this exercise they accepted both answers, so I think they may be interchangeable, at least some of the time. But on the other hand I think I have been occasionally marked incorrect when I have written "chaque fois" without the preceding "à", so I'll be interested to hear the definitive answer from the experts.

Answer

According to this, it's better to omit the "à".http://bdl.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/bdl/gabarit_bdl.asp?id=3632

Answer

But that speaks of a different language: québequois. :)