Sunday, December 29, 2019

The Subordinate Clause French Grammar Glossary

A subordinate clause, or proposition subordonnà ©e,  does not express a complete idea and cannot stand alone. It must occur in a sentence with the main clause and may be introduced by a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun. The main clause expresses a complete idea and could normally stand alone (as an independent clause) if it werent for the subordinate clause dependent on it. The subordinate clause is in brackets in the following examples: Jai dit [que jaime] les pommes.I said [that I like] apples.Il a rà ©ussi [parce quil a beaucoup travaillà ©].He succeeded [because he worked a lot].Lhomme [dont je parle habite ici].The man [that Im talking about] lives here. A subordinate clause, also known as une  proposition dà ©pendante, or a dependent clause, is one of three types of clauses in French, each of which contains a subject and a verb: the independent clause, the main clause, and the subordinate clause.   Subordinating conjunctions  join dependent clauses to main clauses, as opposed to coordinating conjunctions, which  join words and groups of words of an equal value. Coordinating:  Jaime les pommes  et  les oranges.   I like apples  and  oranges.Subordinating:  Jai dit  que  jaime les pommes.   I said  that  I like apples. Subordinating Conjunctions A subordinate  clause cannot stand alone because its meaning is incomplete without the main clause. In addition, sometimes the dependent clause has a verb form that cannot stand alone. These are some frequently used French subordinating conjunctions that link the subordinate clause with the main clause: comme  Ã‚  as, sincelorsque  Ã‚  whenpuisque  Ã‚  since, as quand  Ã‚  whenque  Ã‚  thatquoique*  Ã‚  even thoughsi  Ã‚  if *Quoique  must be followed by the  subjunctive.      Comme  tu nes pas prà ªt, jy irai seul.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since  youre not ready, Ill go alone.      Si  je suis libre, je tamà ¨nerai à   laà ©roport.  Ã‚  Ã‚  If  Im free, Ill take you to the airport.      Jai peur  quand  il voyage.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Im afraid  when  he travels. Conjunctive Phrases There are also widely used  conjunctive phrases  that function as subordinating conjunctions. Some of these take a subjunctive verb and some also require the  ne explà ©tif, the somewhat literary non-negative ne (without pas). à   condition que*  Ã‚  provided thatafin que*  Ã‚  so thatainsi que  Ã‚  just as, so asalors que  Ã‚  while, whereasà   mesure que  Ã‚  as (progressively)à   moins que**  Ã‚  unlessaprà ¨s que  Ã‚  after, when à   supposer que*  Ã‚  assuming thatau cas oà ¹Ã‚  Ã‚  in caseaussità ´t que  Ã‚  as soon asavant que**  Ã‚  beforebien que*  Ã‚  althoughdans lhypothà ¨se oà ¹Ã‚  Ã‚  in the event thatde crainte que**  Ã‚  for fear thatde faà §on que*  Ã‚  in such a way thatde manià ¨re que*  Ã‚  so thatde mà ªme que  Ã‚  just asde peur que**  for fear thatdepuis que  Ã‚  sincede sorte que*  Ã‚  so that, in such a way thatdà ¨s que  Ã‚  as soon asen admettant que*  Ã‚  assuming thaten attendant que*  Ã‚  while, untilencore que*  Ã‚  even thoughjusquà   ce que*  Ã‚  untilparce que  Ã‚  becausependant que  Ã‚  whilepour que*  Ã‚  so thatpourvu que*  Ã‚  provided thatquand bien mà ªme  Ã‚  even though/ifquoi que*  Ã‚  whatever, no matter whatsans que**  Ã‚  withoutsità ´t que  Ã‚  as soon assupposà © que*  Ã‚  supposingtandis que  Ã‚  while, whereastant que  Ã‚  Ã‚  as long asvu que  Ã‚  seeing as/that *These conjunctions must be followed by the  subjunctive, which is only found in subordinate clauses.**These conjunctions require the  subjunctive  plus  ne explà ©tif.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Il travaille  pour que  vous puissiez manger.  Ã‚  Ã‚  He works  so that  you can eat.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai rà ©ussi à   lexamen  bien que  je naie pas à ©tudià ©.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I passed the test  even though  I didnt study.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il est parti  parce quil avait peur.  Ã‚  Ã‚  He left  because  he was afraid.      Jà ©vite quil ne dà ©couvre la raison.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Im avoiding his discovering the reason. Relative Pronouns A  French relative pronoun can also link a subordinate (dependent) clause  to a  main clause. French  relative pronouns may replace a subject, direct object, indirect object or preposition.  They include, depending on context,  que,  qui,  lequel,  dont  and  oà ¹Ã‚  and generally translate into English as who, whom, that, which, whose, where, or when. But  truth be told, there are no exact equivalents for these terms; see the table below for possible translations, according to part of speech. It is important to know that in French, relative pronouns are  required, whereas, in English, they are sometimes optional and might be deleted if the sentence is clear without them. Functions and Meanings of Relative Pronouns Pronoun Function(s) Possible Translations Qui SubjectIndirect object (person) who, whatwhich, that, whom Que Direct object whom, what, which, that Lequel Indirect object (thing) what, which, that Dont Object of deIndicates possession of which, from which, thatwhose O Indicates place or time when, where, which, that Additional Resources   Subordinating conjunctionsRelative pronounsClausePronounSi clauseConjunctionMain clauseRelative clause

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