Article de Presse (B2)

A French news article is one of the most concentrated displays of register in the language. In a single 250-word piece you will encounter the conditionnel journalistique used to mark unverified claims, the passé composé doing the heavy narrative work, the subjunctive triggered by emotion verbs, and the ne explétif — that strange untranslatable ne that has nothing to do with negation. Reading and producing this register is the threshold that separates B1 from B2 in French.

This page presents a short article on a fictional municipal policy, then unpacks the seven grammatical signatures that mark the text as journalistic — and explains why each one is there.

The article

Le maire de Lyon annonce de nouvelles mesures contre la pollution

Lyon, le 14 mars. Hier matin, le maire de Lyon, M. Dupont, a annoncé une série de mesures visant à réduire la pollution dans le centre-ville. Selon le maire, "les voitures particulières seraient interdites en semaine à partir du 1er janvier prochain", à l'exception des véhicules électriques et des transports en commun.

Cette mesure, qui aurait été préparée depuis plusieurs mois en concertation avec les services techniques de la mairie, divise déjà les habitants. Certains commerçants soutiennent l'initiative, estimant qu'une réduction du trafic améliorerait la qualité de l'air et attirerait davantage de piétons. D'autres, en revanche, craignent qu'elle ne nuise gravement à l'activité commerciale du centre.

L'opposition municipale, par la voix de sa présidente Mme Lefèvre, demande à ce que le projet soit reporté afin que des consultations publiques puissent avoir lieu. "Une telle décision ne peut être prise sans que les Lyonnais soient consultés", a-t-elle déclaré lors d'une conférence de presse organisée hier après-midi.

Le maire, lui, reste ferme. Interrogé sur les inquiétudes exprimées, il a répondu que les mesures seraient appliquées "dans l'intérêt général" et a rappelé qu'une expérimentation similaire menée à Strasbourg aurait donné des résultats encourageants. Une réunion publique est prévue la semaine prochaine.

A short article on a contested municipal policy — the kind of piece you would find in Le Monde, Le Figaro, or a regional daily.

Grammar in action

The journalistic conditional — seraient interdites, aurait été préparée

Three verbs in this article are in the conditional, but none of them express a hypothesis or a polite request. Look at them:

• Les voitures particulières *seraient interdites…* (private cars would be banned)
• Cette mesure, qui *aurait été préparée depuis plusieurs mois…* (which has reportedly been prepared)
• Une expérimentation similaire menée à Strasbourg *aurait donné des résultats encourageants.* (reportedly gave encouraging results)

This is the conditionnel journalistique — the journalistic conditional. It marks a claim that the journalist has heard or read but has not personally verified. It is the French equivalent of English hedges like "is said to have", "reportedly", "allegedly".

The English speaker's instinct is to read these verbs as hypotheticals ("would be banned" — under what conditions?). But in news prose, the conditional has been recruited for a different job entirely: it tells the reader that the source is the speaker quoted, not the journalist's own knowledge. The journalist is reporting without committing.

Two forms appear:

• Conditionnel présent: for present-tense unverified claims. Les voitures seraient interdites = "Cars are reportedly going to be banned".
• Conditionnel passé: for past unverified claims. La mesure aurait été préparée depuis plusieurs mois = "The measure has reportedly been being prepared for several months".

The signal is reliable enough that French readers parse it automatically. When you see a conditional in a news article in a context where a hypothesis makes no sense, your first instinct should be to read it as a flagged report.

Passé composé as the default news tense

The verbs that the journalist does commit to are in the passé composé: a annoncé, a déclaré, a répondu, a rappelé. This is one of the structural features that distinguishes modern French journalism from older literary writing.

In 19th-century newspapers and in French novels, the standard narrative past was the passé simple (il annonça, il déclara, il répondit). That tense survives in literature and in some elevated commentary, but it has almost completely disappeared from news writing. Today, passé composé is the default narrative past in newspapers, magazines, radio, and television.

The split is now sharp:

So in a news article, the journalistic register is delivered through vocabulary (formal, often Latinate words: concertation, mesures, expérimentation) and syntax (long sentences, embedded clauses, passive voice) — but not through the passé simple. Aspiring B2 readers should expect the passé composé everywhere.

Craindre que… ne nuise — the subjunctive with ne explétif

The line D'autres craignent qu'elle ne nuise gravement à l'activité commerciale contains two grammatical features that intersect in news prose: the subjunctive after a verb of fear, and the ne explétif.

The subjunctive after craindre que. The verb craindre ("to fear") is a verb of emotion, and like all such verbs it triggers the subjunctive in the embedded clause when introduced by que. So nuise is the present subjunctive of nuire ("to harm"), not the indicative nuit.

Other verbs of fear with the same pattern: avoir peur que, redouter que, appréhender que. All take the subjunctive in que-clauses.

The ne explétif. Now look at the ne sitting just before nuise. It is not a negation. The clause does not say "they fear that it will not harm" — the clause says "they fear that it will harm". The ne is grammatically there but semantically empty. It is called the ne explétif (literally "padding ne"), and it appears in formal French after specific triggers.

The triggers for ne explétif:

• verbs of fear: craindre que… ne, avoir peur que… ne, redouter que… ne
• avant que, à moins que, de peur que, de crainte que in their classical forms
• comparative constructions: plus que, moins que, autre que — Il est plus intelligent que je ne le pensais ("He's smarter than I thought")

In all of these, ne is the formal flag that the subordinate clause has a particular logical status — but it does not negate. In modern speech and informal writing, the ne explétif is often dropped: D'autres craignent qu'elle nuise gravement is grammatical and common in conversation. In journalistic and literary writing, the ne explétif is preserved as a marker of formal register.

Demander à ce que, afin que — formal subjunctive triggers

The article reads: L'opposition municipale… demande à ce que le projet soit reporté afin que des consultations publiques puissent avoir lieu. Two subjunctive triggers in one sentence: demander à ce que and afin que.

Demander à ce que / demander que — both forms exist, both take the subjunctive (soit reporté). The à ce que form is more formal and more common in journalistic writing; demander que is the standard form in conversation. The verb demander ("to ask / request") triggers the subjunctive when its object is a clause about something not yet realized.

Afin que ("in order that / so that") — a purpose conjunction, always followed by the subjunctive. Afin que des consultations publiques puissent avoir lieu — "so that public consultations can take place". The lighter equivalent in spoken French is pour que (also subjunctive): pour que les consultations puissent avoir lieu. Afin que is the more formal of the two.

The full subjunctive-trigger family for purpose:

• pour que — the standard, used everywhere
• afin que — formal / written register
• de sorte que — depends: subjunctive when expressing intent, indicative when expressing actual result
• de façon (à ce) que / de manière (à ce) que — same logic as de sorte que

Sans que les Lyonnais soient consultés — sans que + subjunctive

Mme Lefèvre is quoted as saying Une telle décision ne peut être prise sans que les Lyonnais soient consultés. The conjunction sans que ("without [someone doing something]") always takes the subjunctive.

The structure: sans que + subject + subjunctive verb. Sans que les Lyonnais soient consultés — without the Lyonnais being consulted.

When the subjects of the two clauses are the same, French prefers to use sans + infinitive instead, avoiding the subjunctive entirely:

• Il est parti sans *dire au revoir.* (same subject — infinitive)
• Il est parti sans qu'*elle lui dise au revoir.* (different subject — sans que + subjunctive)

This same-subject / different-subject distinction governs many subjunctive triggers: avant de (same subject) vs avant que (different subject), pour vs pour que, afin de vs afin que.

In our article, the subjects are different (the city / the Lyonnais), so sans que + subjunctive is the only correct form.

Visant à, estimant que — present participle in formal writing

The article uses two participial constructions: des mesures *visant à réduire la pollution and certains commerçants soutiennent l'initiative, **estimant qu'une réduction du trafic améliorerait la qualité de l'air*.

The present participle ending in -ant (visant, estimant, soutenant, considérant) is a hallmark of formal written French. It compresses what would otherwise be a relative clause or a coordinated clause into a tighter form.

• Des mesures qui visent à réduire la pollution → Des mesures *visant à réduire la pollution* (relative clause → participle)
• Ils soutiennent l'initiative et estiment que… → Ils soutiennent l'initiative, *estimant que…* (coordination → participle)

The present participle is invariable in this use (it does not agree with the subject) and it modifies the noun or the subject of the main clause. Crucially, the subject of the participle must match the subject (or referent) of the main clause — otherwise the sentence is ungrammatical or awkward.

This is a B2 register feature. In conversation, French uses relative clauses and coordination instead. In news, academic, and legal writing, the participle is the norm.

Lui, en revanche, lui-même — emphatic and contrastive pronouns

The article opens its final paragraph with Le maire, *lui, reste ferme. The standalone *lui here is the disjunctive (or tonic) pronoun, used for emphasis and contrast.

The disjunctive pronouns (moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles) appear:

• After prepositions: avec lui, pour elle, chez eux
• For emphasis: Lui, il pense que… / Moi, je trouve que…
• After c'est: C'est lui qui a décidé
• In comparisons: plus grand que lui
• Standalone in apposition: Le maire, lui, reste ferme

In our text, Le maire, lui, reste ferme is a contrastive use: the journalist is highlighting that the mayor, in contrast to the opposition, holds his position. The pronoun is in apposition to le maire, set off by commas, and it carries the entire weight of the contrast.

The article also uses en revanche ("on the other hand") — a formal connector that explicitly marks contrast between two clauses. In conversation, par contre dominates; in formal writing, en revanche is preferred (though par contre is increasingly accepted in journalism).

Common mistakes

These are the predictable trip-ups for English speakers reading or producing French news prose.

The conditional in news prose is not a hypothesis. Le maire aurait annoncé does not mean the mayor might or might not have announced — it means the journalist is reporting an announcement attributed to a source. The event almost certainly happened; the conditional simply marks it as second-hand.

The ne explétif is preserved in formal writing — newspapers, academic prose, literature — but routinely dropped in conversation. For a B2 learner, the rule is: drop it in speech, keep it in writing. In neither case does it negate.

Sans que always takes the subjunctive in the embedded clause. The verb soient is the present subjunctive of être; sont would be ungrammatical here.

Verbs of communication and assertion (annoncer, dire, déclarer, affirmer, écrire) take the indicative in que-clauses, not the subjunctive. The future-in-past serait appliquée (conditional) is correct because the announcement looked toward a future moment.

The present participle's implicit subject is the subject of the main clause. Adding a separate pronoun (lui pensant) breaks the structure. To express a different subject, use a full subordinate clause: Le maire est resté ferme parce que ses conseillers pensaient que…

Key takeaways