Ils ont promis que la tempête ne viendrait pas ici.
They promised that the storm would not come here.
Breakdown of Ils ont promis que la tempête ne viendrait pas ici.
ici
here
ils
they (masculine/mixed)
avoir
to have
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
venir
to come
que
that (introducing a clause)
promettre
to promise
la tempête
the storm
Questions & Answers about Ils ont promis que la tempête ne viendrait pas ici.
Why do we use the conditional viendrait instead of the future tense viendra here?
This is the sequence of tenses in action. Since the main verb is in the past (ont promis), the reported action shifts back a tense. The original promise was probably "La tempête ne viendra pas" (The storm will not come). When reported in the past, the future tense (viendra) backshifts to the present conditional (viendrait), translating perfectly to "would not come" in English.
What is the stem used to form viendrait?
Could we say Ils promettaient instead of Ils ont promis?
You could, but it changes the meaning slightly. Using the passé composé (ont promis) means they made the promise at a specific, completed moment. Using the imparfait (promettaient) would imply they were repeatedly promising or were in the middle of promising it over a period of time.
Why does ne ... pas go around viendrait rather than the first verb?
The negation applies to the action in the second part of the sentence (the storm not coming), not the act of promising. If we said Ils n'ont pas promis, it would mean "They did not promise." Because they did promise that the storm wouldn't come, the ne ... pas hugs the conjugated verb in that specific clause (viendrait).
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