Ne expletif and the subjunctive

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Permalink Reply by Vedas on June 12, 2013 at 3:08pm

Yes a lot of phrases trigger the subjunctive form:

http://www.connectigramme.com/subjonctif.html/odyframe.htm

Elle a peur que/ elle craint que expresse doubt or fear 

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on June 12, 2013 at 4:53pm

I was taught to say "Il est plus tard que vous ne le  pensez"

I can't how how important (or even correct) that is.

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Permalink Reply by Vedas on June 12, 2013 at 5:01pm

Il est plus tard que vous ne le pensez is absolutely correct

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Permalink Reply by Tryphon Tournesol on June 13, 2013 at 5:43am

I think I've seen something similar for the verb espérer.  

I can't recall the exact sentence, but it was something like:

Je l'espère que [something or rather].    I thought the "l'" didn't need to be there, but I've seen it a few times.  

Is this a matter of convention, or will the meaning change if the sentence reads as J'espère que [xyz].   

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on June 13, 2013 at 1:23am

Hi-- Just wanted to mention that there's a fair amount of information on the French Linguistics web site about the subjunctive in French, starting here for an overview of what the subjunctive "is":

http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/grammar/subjunctive_what_is.shtml

and here for information on specific instances of its use:

http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/grammar/subjunctive_when_intro....

As I mentioned in the thread the other day, the convention of adding the "ne" in the examples you mention is essentially historical: they were felt to "require a negative", at a tie when "ne" on its own could convey a negative.

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Permalink Reply by Tryphon Tournesol on June 13, 2013 at 5:37am

Merci 

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