French Conjunctions – Les Conjonctions: Everything you need to know
French Conjunctions: A comprehensive overview.
Reading time 3 minutes Difficulty: Intermediate / AdvancedSo, 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 facilitate the interaction between people, or, in other words, to CONNECT people. In language, you would also need something to CONNECT things.
You have two separate ideas and you want to connect them, you need a 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 |
| 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 | Explanation | Example |
| comme | 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. |
| si | if | 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.
- French conjunctions are divided into 2 main types: coordinating conjunction and subordinating conjunction.
- Coordinating conjunctions connect 2 independent/equal value ideas while subordinating conjunction links 2 ideas that are related to each other.
- Subordinating conjunctions can be classified into different sub-group based on the relationship they express: cause, goal, comparison, opposition…
- When you learn a subordinating conjunction, learn also the mood of the verb follow it (indicative, subjunctive, conditional…)
I hope this article helps to organize your knowledge about French conjunctions. Please do not hesitate to ask your question.
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About the Author Frederic
Frederic Bibard is the founder of Talk in French, a company that helps french learners to practice and improve their french. Macaron addict. Jacques Audiard fan. You can contact him on Twitter and Google +
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