Advanced Concession with "Pour... que"
When describing extreme situations—like surviving the harsh conditions of an Arctic expedition—you might want to state that a fact remains true regardless of an intense quality. In English, we express this by saying "However [adjective] it may be" or "As [adjective] as it is."
In French, you can express this advanced concession using the following structure:
pour + [adjective] + que + [subjunctive verb]
The verb used in this construction is almost always être in the subjunctive (e.g., soit for singular subjects or soient for plural subjects). Let's look at this structure in action using the adjective éprouvant(e) (grueling):
| However grueling the expedition may be, we are leaving tomorrow. | Pour éprouvante que soit l'expédition, nous partons demain. |
Notice how the adjective is placed directly after pour and agrees in gender and number with the subject (here, éprouvante matches the feminine noun l'expédition).
Here is another example with féroce (fierce):
| However fierce the polar bear may be, it avoids the camp. | Pour féroce que soit l'ours polaire, il évite le camp. |
When the word following que is a pronoun starting with a vowel (like il or elle), remember that que must elide to qu':
| However blinding it may be, the blizzard hardly slows down the sled. | Pour aveuglant qu'il soit, le blizzard ne ralentit guère le traîneau. |
This structure perfectly captures the contrast between an extreme environment—like the impitoyable (unforgiving) banquise (pack ice)—and the unstoppable determination of the explorers:
| However unforgiving the pack ice may be, they cross it. | Pour impitoyable que soit la banquise, ils la traversent. |