Gardening Basics
When starting your own potager (vegetable garden), you will first need to prepare the soil and semer (to sow) your seeds.
| We are sowing the seeds in the vegetable garden. | Nous semons les graines dans le potager. |
Stating a Purpose with Afin que
To state a goal or purpose, use the conjunction afin que (so that / in order that). Because a goal is a desired outcome rather than an established fact, afin que always requires the subjunctive mood.
| We water all the seeds so that they grow quickly. | Nous arrosons toutes les graines afin qu'elles poussent vite. |
Notice how que contracts to qu' before a vowel. Here is an example using the irregular subjunctive form of être (soient):
| They add fertilizer so that the roots are strong. | Ils ajoutent de l'engrais afin que les racines soient fortes. |
Pour que
The conjunction pour que (so that) is interchangeable with afin que and also triggers the subjunctive. It is slightly more common in everyday spoken French.
| Use their fertilizer so that your vegetables grow well. | Utilisez leur engrais pour que vos légumes poussent bien. |
For -er verbs in the nous and vous forms, the subjunctive looks like the imperfect tense (adding an i before the ending):
| Buy fertilizer so that we sow the seeds today. | Achetez de l'engrais pour que nous semions les graines aujourd'hui. |
Whether you need to creuser (to dig) or water your plants, remember that the intended result following these conjunctions will always be in the subjunctive!
| I dig the earth so that the root finds water. | Je creuse la terre pour que la racine trouve de l'eau. |