Breakdown of Il vaut mieux que tu mincisses avec un sport quotidien.
un
a / an (masculine)
tu
you (informal singular)
avec
with
le sport
the sport / the exercise
que
that (introducing a clause)
il vaut mieux
it is better to
mincir
to lose weight
quotidien
daily
Questions & Answers about Il vaut mieux que tu mincisses avec un sport quotidien.
Why do we use the subjunctive (mincisses) after Il vaut mieux que?
The phrase Il vaut mieux que means "it is better that". It is an impersonal expression (meaning the il doesn't refer to a specific person or thing) that expresses a preference or judgment. In French, expressions showing preference, necessity, or judgment almost always trigger the subjunctive mood for the action that follows.
How do we get the form mincisses from the verb mincir?
To build the present subjunctive for regular verbs, you start with the ils/elles form of the present tense. For mincir (to lose weight), that is ils mincissent. You drop the -ent to get your stem (minciss-), and then add the subjunctive ending for tu, which is -es. That gives you tu mincisses.
Does the subjunctive tu mincisses sound different from the regular present tense?
Yes, they sound completely different! The regular present tense is tu mincis, where the final "s" is silent. But because the subjunctive is built on the ils stem, the double "s" is pronounced: tu mincisses sounds like "min-seess".
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