Lesson 49: Fine Points of Subjonctif and Conditionnel

Part 1: Concessive subjonctif — the "WH-ever" family

English uses the suffix -ever to build concessive phrases: whatever, wherever, whoever, however. French uses fixed expressions + subjunctive. There's no productive rule to derive — these are ready-made templates to recognize on sight and produce on demand.

French construction	English equivalent	Example
quoi que + subj.	whatever (object)	Quoi qu'il fasse, elle n'est jamais contente. — Whatever he does, she's never happy.
qui que + subj.	whoever	Qui que tu sois, tu dois respecter les règles. — Whoever you are, you must respect the rules.
où que + subj.	wherever	Où que vous alliez, prenez votre passeport. — Wherever you go, take your passport.
quel que soit + noun	whatever (+ noun)	Quel que soit ton choix, je te soutiens. — Whatever your choice, I support you.
quoi que ce soit	anything at all	Je ne veux rien, quoi que ce soit. — I don't want anything, anything at all.
qui que ce soit	anyone at all	Ne dis rien à qui que ce soit. — Don't tell anyone, anyone at all.
où que ce soit	anywhere at all	Je le retrouverai où que ce soit. — I'll find him anywhere at all.
si … que + subj.	however (+ adj.)	Si fort qu'il soit, il ne peut pas tout faire. — However strong he is, he can't do everything.
aussi … que + subj.	however (+ adj.)	Aussi intelligente qu'elle soit, elle a tort ici. — However intelligent she is, she's wrong here.
pour … que + subj.	however (literary)	Pour riche qu'il soit, il reste seul. — However rich he is, he remains alone.

Trap #1: quoi que vs quoique — same sound, different word

These are two different things that sound identical and are spelled almost identically. Get them apart!

Form	Meaning	Example
quoi que (two words)	whatever	Quoi qu'il dise, je n'écoute pas. — Whatever he says, I don't listen.
quoique (one word)	although (= bien que)	Quoiqu'il soit tard, je sors. — Although it's late, I'm going out.

Mnemonic: quoi que — two words, means "whatever thing". quoique — one word, means "although". Both take the subjunctive, but only one is concessive in the "no matter what" sense.

Trap #2: agreement of quel que soit

Quel is an adjective, so it agrees with the noun. Soit is the verb. The noun comes after soit/soient, not before:

Subject	Form
m. sg.	quel que soit le problème — whatever the problem
f. sg.	quelle que soit la solution — whatever the solution
m. pl.	quels que soient les obstacles — whatever the obstacles
f. pl.	quelles que soient les difficultés — whatever the difficulties

Word order is fixed: quel(le)(s) que + soit/soient + noun. Do NOT write quel que le problème soit. The verb hugs quel(le)(s) and the noun trails behind.

---

Part 2: Stand-alone subjonctif — wishes and frozen formulas

In a normal lesson, subjonctif lives in a subordinate clause after que. But in a handful of cases it opens a sentence on its own as a wish, a command, or an exclamation.

Type A: Que + subj. — third-person command

English uses let him / let them; French uses que + subjunctive. The imperative covers second person (viens !) and first plural (allons !); the subjunctive covers third person.

French	English
Qu'il vienne tout de suite !	Let him come right away!
Qu'ils fassent ce qu'ils veulent.	Let them do what they want.
Que personne ne bouge !	Let nobody move!
Qu'elle soit heureuse.	May she be happy.

Type B: Subj. without que — frozen wish formulas

A handful of archaic formulas where que has dropped out. Treat them as idioms.

French	English	Note
Vive la France !	Long live France!	from vivre
Vivent les mariés !	Long live the newlyweds!	agreement often dropped — vive les mariés also seen
Soit*.*	So be it. / Fine.	dry agreement
Puisse*-t-il réussir !*	May he succeed!	literary, with inversion
Puissiez*-vous être heureux.*	May you be happy.
Advienne que pourra.	Come what may.	frozen, ≈ "whatever comes will come"
Dieu vous bénisse !	God bless you!
Sauve qui peut !	Every man for himself! / Run for your life!
Coûte que coûte.	Whatever it costs. / At any cost.	literally "let it cost what it costs"
N'en déplaise à…	With all due respect to… / No offense to…	ne vous en déplaise — "no offense to you"

Register flag: vive, soit, puisse, advienne are soutenu (literary register). You won't use them in conversation, but you'll meet them constantly in news, speeches, and literature.

---

Part 3: Journalistic conditionnel — the "allegedly" tense

This is one of the most important things to know for reading French news. French media uses conditionnel in a special meaning: "according to unconfirmed sources", "reportedly", "allegedly". It's called the conditionnel d'information non confirmée.

The journalistic conditionnel is the writer stepping back from the claim. The journalist isn't confirming the fact — they're relaying it.

English equivalent

There's no grammatical equivalent in English — we use lexical hedges: allegedly, reportedly, said to, according to sources, supposedly, is believed to. French does the same job with one verb form.

Compare: indicatif vs conditionnel in the news

Sentence	Translation	Status
Le ministre est à Berlin.	The minister is in Berlin.	Confirmed fact.
Le ministre serait à Berlin.	The minister is reportedly in Berlin.	Unconfirmed.
Il y a eu trois blessés.	There were three injured.	Fact.
Il y aurait eu trois blessés.	There were reportedly three injured.	Number not confirmed.
Les négociations ont échoué.	The talks failed.	Fact.
Les négociations auraient échoué.	The talks allegedly failed.	Rumor / unverified.
Le suspect a quitté le pays.	The suspect left the country.	Fact.
Le suspect aurait quitté le pays.	The suspect allegedly left the country.	Police claim, not yet proven.

Tenses of the journalistic conditionnel

Tense	Use	Example
Conditionnel présent	unverified present/future	Le suspect serait en fuite. — The suspect is reportedly on the run.
Conditionnel passé	unverified past	Le suspect aurait quitté le pays. — The suspect allegedly left the country.

Critical trap! This conditionnel has nothing to do with hypothesis. There's no "would" in the meaning. It only marks unconfirmed information. If you see aurait fait in a news headline without any si clause, don't translate it as "would have done" — translate it as "allegedly did".

Typical source markers

The journalistic conditionnel often travels with explicit source flags:

• selon + source: Selon nos sources, le PDG aurait démissionné. — According to our sources, the CEO has reportedly resigned.
• d'après + source: D'après les enquêteurs, l'incident serait un accident.
• à en croire + source: À en croire les témoins, l'incident aurait duré dix minutes. — If the witnesses are to be believed, the incident lasted ten minutes.

---

Part 4: Hedging — softening assertions

Hedging = cautious softening, distancing yourself from a flat claim. At C1, this is a marker of mature, native-sounding speech and writing.

Construction	Meaning
Il semblerait que… + subj.	It would seem that… (double distance: sembler + conditionnel)
Il paraîtrait que… + indic.	It's said that… / Word has it that…
On dirait que… + indic.	You'd think that… / It looks like…
Il se pourrait que… + subj.	It could be that…
Si je ne m'abuse…	If I'm not mistaken…
Sauf erreur de ma part…	Unless I'm mistaken… (lit. "barring error on my part")
À ce qu'il paraît…	Apparently… / They say…
Force est de constater que…	One has to acknowledge that… (lit. "force is to note that")
On aurait dit que…	You'd have thought that…

Compare: Il semble que + subj. = "it seems" (neutral). Il semblerait que + subj. = "it would seem" (softer still). The conditionnel on sembler is itself a hedge — a hedge on a hedge.

Subjunctive after a negated superlative

One more advanced niche: the subjunctive after a negated superlative or rarity expression signals that the claim is exceptionally strong but uncertain.

• Il n'y a personne qui sache la réponse. — There's nobody who knows the answer.
• C'est le seul ami qui me comprenne. — He's the only friend who understands me.
• C'est la meilleure chose que j'aie jamais vue. — It's the best thing I've ever seen.
• Je ne connais aucun homme qui soit parfait. — I know no man who is perfect.

The pattern: superlative / seul / unique / premier / dernier / negation + relative clause → subjunctive. It signals that the speaker is making a subjective, evaluative claim, not stating an observed fact.

---

Part 5: Bridges — connections to L36, L47, L48

Bridge to L36 (passé du subjonctif)

Concessive constructions can stand in the passé du subjonctif for a completed action:

• Quoi qu'il ait fait, on lui pardonnera. — Whatever he has done, he'll be forgiven.
• Où qu'elle soit allée, elle a laissé des traces. — Wherever she has gone, she left traces.
• Quel que soit le mal qu'il ait causé… — Whatever harm he has caused…

Bridge to L47 (mise en relief)

Journalistic conditionnel combines naturally with c'est … qui/que emphasis:

• C'est lui qui serait responsable de l'attaque. — He is the one allegedly responsible for the attack.
• Ce sont les actionnaires qui auraient bloqué la fusion. — It's the shareholders who reportedly blocked the merger.

Bridge to L48 (register)

Distribution across registers:

Register	Concessive subj.	Stand-alone wish	Journalistic cond.
Soutenu (formal/written)	standard	puisse-t-il, advienne…	standard
Courant (neutral)	quoi que, quel que soit — yes	qu'il vienne, vive… — yes	in press, yes
Familier (colloquial)	avoided, replaced by peu importe ce que…	rare, except vive, sauve qui peut	avoided

Familier equivalents:

• quoi qu'il fasse → peu importe ce qu'il fait
• où qu'il aille → peu importe où il va
• quel que soit le problème → n'importe quel problème

---