In the sentencenous avons ouvert les fenêtres de peur qu'il n'y ait un fuite de gas.

Question

In the sentence, which may not be exactly correct,  but is more or les as i remeber it, the translatio is ....for frar that there would be a gas leak. Can this be translated as might be or even as there is a gas leak.  Like many english people i am a bit hazy about the subjunctive in my own language, hence the question.

Aurélie Drouard · Accepted Answer

Bonjour Jennifer !

Yes, you are correct, in this case, the alternatives "there is/may be/might be" as more accurate than "there would be" as the latter makes it sound like the gas leak would occur if we opened the window!
Thanks to you, this sentence has now been improved :)

Merci et à bientôt !

Jennifer Cole · Answer

De rien and merci

Chuck Throckmorton · Answer

I got hung up on this translation too. What is it exactly that makes “il n’y ait “ a translation of “there MIGHT be” [which was the phrase we were asked to translate] as opposed to simply “there IS” [il y a]?

Chuck Throckmorton · Answer

I got hung up on this translation too. What is it exactly that makes “il n’y ait “ a translation of “there MIGHT be” [which was the phrase we were asked to translate] as opposed to simply “there IS” [il y a]?