Use of subjunctive

Jane C.C1Kwiziq community member

Use of subjunctive

I was confused with the subjunctive following the phrase "nous esperons que ce soit.." as I thought it didn't take it in the affirmative, only in the negative?

Asked 3 years ago
CélineNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Bonjour Jane,

In modern French, 'espérer' is followed by L'Indicatif in most cases. After a long discussion, the language team agreed that this sentence should be changed to L'Indicatif Présent as Le Subjonctif would imply that the 'collaboration / future of the person in the company' was very much in doubt. And then, why hire the person in the first place ? ;-)

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Jane,

I haven't tried to do this particular exercise but there are situations where the subjunctive is appropriate. See here for further information 

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/subjunctivisor/esperer/

Hope you will find this useful.

Jim

Jane C. asked:

Use of subjunctive

I was confused with the subjunctive following the phrase "nous esperons que ce soit.." as I thought it didn't take it in the affirmative, only in the negative?

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