Use of que

Carl C.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Use of que

This exercise uses que in two places I don't understand.  First, ¨Alors que je traversais un coin...¨  Second ¨J'ai attendu que la depanneuse arrive.¨  I think "alors que" means while.  It seems the second usage should be "jusqu'á."  I have never seen que used that way. 

Asked 3 years ago
Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Hi Carl,

These are standard forms:-

Attendre que + subjunctive

Alors que + indicative

Hope this helps.

Jim

CélineNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq
Brian E.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

I agree with Carl that “J'ai attendu que la dépanneuse arrive.” looks strange. I haven’t seen this structure before (I think it looks odd due to the verb “arrive” being alone at the end). So it’s good to learn that this is a normal and valid part of French. 

Carl C. asked:

Use of que

This exercise uses que in two places I don't understand.  First, ¨Alors que je traversais un coin...¨  Second ¨J'ai attendu que la depanneuse arrive.¨  I think "alors que" means while.  It seems the second usage should be "jusqu'á."  I have never seen que used that way. 

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