J'ai besoin d'une explication

Question

Salut! Pouvez-vous m'expliquer la phrase suivante?

nous nous attendions tous à ce que ça soit une belle journée hivernale.|
D'ou vient "ce que ca soit"? Si j'avais dit: nous nous attendions tous a que ca soit...?
Merci!

Accepted Answer

Hi Ash,
I think that what you are asking is why we use ‘ce que’ after and not 'que' judging from your suggestion. If that is the case take a look at the following Kwiziq lesson-
https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/ce-que-what-which-relative-pronouns
Bonne Continuation and Bon Noël!

Answer

According to Larousse (https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/s_attendre/6230#difficulte) either of the following expressions are correct and translated as 'to expect that' :

s'attendre à ce que (Subject) (Subjunctive)

s'attendre que (Subject) (Subjunctive) {Note: NOT « s'attendre à que »}

The former, « s'attendre à ce que », is noted as being more current in use and is covered in the KwizIQ lesson (I have not found in other discussions of « s'attendre à ce que » that 'dread' is emphasised as a feature, in contrast to its being noted in this lesson)

Attendre quelqu'un vs s'attendre à quelque chose = to wait vs to expect in French