Au cas où + Le Conditionnel = In case

In: Level C1, Idioms, Idiomatic Usage, and Structures, Conditionnel Présent, Conditionnel passé, Mode conditionnel, Conjonction de subordination
Questions: 33

To express (just) in case in French, you use the expression (juste) au cas où.

Look at the following examples:

J'en ai racheté, juste au cas où.
I bought some more, just in case.

Nous avons acheté de la crème solaire, au cas où.
We bought some suntan lotion, just in case.

Au cas où vous vous demanderiez où elle est, elle est allée au marché.
In case you're wondering where she is, she went to the market.

Je te le dis au cas où tu ne serais pas au courant.
I'm telling you in case you weren't aware of it.

 

The delicate point here is the question of the mood following au cas où. Indeed, as it expresses an uncertain state or an hypothesis, you could be tempted to use Le Subjonctif. That would be a mistake!

With the expression (juste) au cas où, you can only use Le Conditionnel.

Je te le dis au cas où tu ne le saurais pas.
I'm telling you in case you don't know.

  

Au cas où vous auriez faim, je vous ai fait un sandwich.
In case you get hungry, I made you a sandwich.

  

 

 

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Conditionnel Présent

Conditionnel passé

Mode conditionnel

Conjonction de subordination

Examples and resources

Nous avons acheté de la crème solaire, au cas où.
We bought some suntan lotion, just in case.

Au cas où vous auriez faim, je vous ai fait un sandwich.
In case you get hungry, I made you a sandwich.

J'en ai racheté, juste au cas où.
I bought some more, just in case.

Je te le dis au cas où tu ne serais pas au courant.
I'm telling you in case you weren't aware of it.

Au cas où vous vous demanderiez où elle est, elle est allée au marché.
In case you're wondering where she is, she went to the market.

Je te le dis au cas où tu ne le saurais pas.
I'm telling you in case you don't know.

Q&A

John

Kwiziq community member

6 January 2019

1 reply

Why 'J'en ai racheté' not 'J'en ai acheté' in the first example?

Chris

Kwiziq community member

6 January 2019

6/01/19

Racheter means "to buy again" or "to buy some more".

Stewart

Kwiziq community member

4 December 2018

1 reply

No liaison between S and O in the expression 'au cas où

As I understand, a normally silent consonant at the end of a word should be pronounced if the following word starts with a vowel.

 Could you please explain why this does not happen with the S and O in the expression 'au caS Où

Thank you

Cécile

Kwiziq language super star

7 December 2018

7/12/18

Hi Stewart,

This is a case when both are possible.     

As 'au cazou' sounds a bit funny people will say with a smile stressing the liaison between the 's' and the 'o'.

Well spotted!

John

Kwiziq community member

3 August 2018

2 replies

.....in case it's sunny

The answer given is '....au cas où il fesait beau'. Couldn't you say as an alternative '....au cas où il y aurait du soleil'?

Chris

Kwiziq community member

4 August 2018

4/08/18

Hi John, 

...au cas où il ferait beau or ...au cas où il y aurait du soleil both are ok. 

-- Chris. 

Almut

Kwiziq community member

30 August 2018

30/08/18

In my book "il fait beau" means the weather is nice. The sun does not necessarily have to shine for the weather to be nice. Therefore "il fait beau" is not an appropriate translation for "it's sunny".

Susan

Kwiziq community member

30 July 2018

1 reply

I am confused: the first two sentences use the past tense, one with juste au cas oû, the other au cas oû but your explanation only talks about the

conditional tense and not why these first two sentences are different.

Chris

Kwiziq community member

31 July 2018

31/07/18

The past tense occurs in the main clause, the conditional is always used in the subordinate clause started by au cas où. 

I'm not sure if that answers your question. 

-- Chris. 

Tina

Kwiziq community member

10 June 2018

2 replies

In the explanation you have '(juste) au cas où' but you have marked me wrong for putting the word 'juste' in brackets.

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

11 June 2018

11/06/18

Bonjour Tina !

The brackets in the lesson mean that you can use either "juste au cas où" or "au cas où" interchangeably, however when giving an answer, you simply have to pick one of these two options :)

I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !

Tina

Kwiziq community member

12 June 2018

12/06/18

Thank you. I knew it meant it was optional but thought I could put that in my answer.

Paul

Kwiziq community member

5 June 2018

3 replies

juste au cas où and au cas où

Hello, In the examples given juste au cas où and  au cas où both translate as just in case when at the end of a sentence. Is there a way to know when to add juste, or is it entirely optional? Thanks.

Chris

Kwiziq community member

6 June 2018

6/06/18

I believe it is entirely optional, just like in English

-- Chris (not a native speaker). 

Paul

Kwiziq community member

6 June 2018

6/06/18

Thanks Chris. 

Michael

Kwiziq community member

27 October 2018

27/10/18

Being pedantic, "juste" in this sense is an Anclicism.  Ce n'est pas juste!

Barbara

Kwiziq community member

16 January 2018

1 reply

When is "jusqu'au cas où used instead of "au cas où"?

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

16 January 2018

16/01/18

Bonjour Barbara !

"Jusqu'au cas où" doesn't exist at all, you're probably thinking of "juste au cas où", which is indeed an alternate option :)

Bonne journée !

Jan

Kwiziq community member

7 May 2017

6 replies

The phrase "Anthony is bringing his sunglasses in case it's sunny" can be translated

The phrase "Anthony is bringing his sunglasses in case it's sunny" can be translated "Anthony apporte ses lunettes de soleil au cas où il ferait beau" but is there a way of using il y a du soleil instead or is it impossible because of the au cas où + le conditionnel-rule?

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

9 May 2017

9/05/17

Bonjour Jan !

No, you could also use "il y a du soleil", simply with "avoir" in Le Conditionnel as such:
Anthony apporte ses lunettes de soleil au cas où il y aurait du soleil.

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !

Tom

Kwiziq community member

17 July 2017

17/07/17

Would "il ferait du soleil" also be acceptable? I was marked "nearly correct for this.

Kari

Kwiziq community member

25 July 2018

25/07/18

Would "Anthony apporte ses lunettes de soleil au cas où il ferait du soleil." also be acceptable?

Merci!

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

10 August 2018

10/08/18

Bonjour Tom and Karl !

"Faire du soleil" is not the correct expression in French :)

Please have a look at our explanation in the related lesson:

 
Bonne journée !

Almut

Kwiziq community member

30 August 2018

30/08/18

In the link you provide there is no mention of how to say it is sunny. Would "le soleil brille" work for you?

Tom

Kwiziq community member

8 October 2018

8/10/18

I am confused. I have seen 'faire du soleil' in numerous text books. It is also condoned by CNTRL and the Académie française.

Mel

Kwiziq community member

16 February 2017

1 reply

What is wrong with "just au cas où" at the end of a sentence? Mine was marked partially incorrect.

Mel

Kwiziq community member

16 February 2017

16/02/17

I meant "juste au cas où".

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

12 September 2016

2 replies

David asked: "Why does "au cas où" take the conditional rather than the subjunctive?"

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

12 September 2016

12/09/16

Bonjour David !

Unfortunately, I have to admit I have no explanation for you :(

I must even admit that as a native speaker, I actually used to make that mistake regularly before looking into it for the site... 
All I can say is that Le Conditionnel is also a mode that expresses hypotheses and theoretical cases, hence it's logical that it'd be used in such a context.

I hope that's helpful! 

Michael

Kwiziq community member

27 October 2018

27/10/18

au cas que takes the subjuctive.  Au cas qu'il fasse beau.

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