French Conjunctions – Les Conjonctions: Everything you need to know French Conjunctions: A comprehensive overview. So, what exactly is a conjunction? Of course you know Facebook, but do you know what the main role of it is. It is used to f acilitate the interaction between people, or, in other words, to CONNECT people. In language, you would also need something to CONNECT things. You things. You have two separate ideas and you want to connect them, you need a conjunction! conjunction! You have an idea that depends on another idea, you also need a conjunction! You want to add a new idea into an existing one, you still need a conjunction. Some might say that French conjunctions are a bit confusing because many of them include “que”, so it’s hard to know how to choose the good conjunction. There is no better way, but you’ll have to structure your knowledge, and reading this article will help tremendously. Here we go! Coordinating conjunction
These are 7 coordinating conjunctions in French: “mais”, “ou”, “et”, “donc”, “or”, “ni”, “car”. Those are invariable words that are used to join words or clauses that have equal value. Below examples will help you understand better their meanings and uses:
Conjunction
English translation
Example
mais
but
C’est cher mais de très bonne qualité It’s expensive, but very good quality
ou
or
Nous allons au cinéma ou nous allons au supermarché We go to the cinema or we go to the supermarket
et
and
Marc et Alice vont à la plage Marc and Alice go to the beach
donc
so,therefore
C’est donc toi! So it was you!
or
now,yet
Il faut tenir les délais, or, ce n’est pas possible The deadlines must be met, now this is not possible
ni
neither…nor
Il ne veut ni l’argent ni les cadeaux He doesn’t want neither money nor gifts
Conjunction
English translation
Example
car
because
Il reste calme car il est gentil He stays calm because he is nice
Subordinating conjunction
Subordinating conjunctions, are used to join a subordinating clause (dependent clause) to main clauses.
Actually, there are only a few subordinating conjunctions comme, quand, lorsque, puisque, que, quoique, si . However, we usually encounter what is called the « conjunctive phrases » (locutions
conjonctive). These are groups of two or more words that have the same function as a conjunction. French’s conjunctive phrases usually end with “que”. Let’s talk about the simple coordination conjunction first. The table below provides the use of each conjunction with an example:
Conjunction
English translation
comme
Explanation
Example
as, since
Use to compare or indicate a cause
Elle est blanche comme la neige She is as white as snow
puisque
as, since
Indicate a subordinating cause
Puisque je suis ici, ne t’inquiète pas As I was here, don’t worry
quand(*)
when
Indicate a cause or a condition (similar to “si”)
Je pars quand tu arrives I leave when you come
lorsque
when
Indicate a cause (similar to “quand”)
L’indiscipline se comprend losqu’on est enfant
que
that
Introduce a completive subordinating clause
Je crois qu’il viendra demain I believe that he will come tomorrow
quoique
eventhough
Indicate two ideas in opposition
Je commence à progresser quoique le français soit une langue difficile. I start to make some progress eventhough French is a difficult language.
Conjunction
English translation
si
if
Explanation
Example
Indicate a condition or hypothesis
Si tu arrives à l’heure je t’accepterai en cours If you come on time I will accept you to class
The list of all conjunctive phrases is too big to be imported in this article. Here I classify them by meaning so you could have an idea how to use them in French.
Type
Conjunctions
Example
objective conjunctions
de manière (que), en sorte que, pour que…
Je vous donne ce texte pour que vous puissiez le travailler à la maison I will give you this text so that you could work on it at home
cause conjunctions
parce que, alors que…
Je ne viendrai pas parce que mon fils est malade I will not come because my son is ill
opposition conjunctions
bien que, malgré que, sauf que, sans que…
Je ne peux pas te faire passer bien que tu aies fait des progrès I can’t let you pass although you have made progress
time conjunctions
Avant que, à mesure que, après que, depuis que…
Il est parti avant que je vienne He left before that I come
comparison conjunctions
autant que, tel que, de même que
Travaillez autant que vous pouvez Work as much as you can
condition conjunctions
à condition que, au cas où, à moins que….
Je te laisserai entrer à condition que tu ne fasses pas de bêtises I will let you enter on condition that you did not do stupidities
Note : When using subordinating conjunction in French, you’ll need to memorize the mood/tense that follows the verb. For the mood, ask yourself this question “Do I need the indicative, subjunctive OR conditional mood with this conjunction”? Try to learn the rule for common conjunctions that you use. As for the tense, make your decision based on the meaning of each tense.
