Reason for subjunctive?

Question

I'm wondering about this sentence: "Des festivites incontournables qui prennent habituellement fin a Mardi Gras, soit la veille du..."

What is the reason for the subjunctive verb tense of "soit" toward the end of this statement?

Accepted Answer

In this context, "soit" is not a verb, but a conjunction. It means something like "that is to say" or "i.e."

Answer

Hi Lorie,

Rather than me trying to speculate on the reason for "soit" try going to the text and you will find that it is possible to click on any part of the passage for an explanation of that word or part of the text.

https://french.kwiziq.com/learn/reading/quel-est-le-sens-spirituel-du-carnaval-et-du-mardi-gras

Jim

Answer

I interpreted it as one half of soit..soit, where the second part got swallowd in the sentence not completed.