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Il est important que nous sachions ce qu'il faut faire avant l'incendie.

Il est important que nous sachions ce qu'il faut faire avant l'incendie.
It is important that we know what to do before the fire.
From Lesson 184:Irregular present subjunctive (aller, faire, pouvoir, savoir, vouloir)·French

Questions & Answers about Il est important que nous sachions ce qu'il faut faire avant l'incendie.

Why is the verb savoir conjugated as sachions here?
Because the phrase Il est important que (It is important that) expresses a necessity or a judgment. Expressions like this require the verb that follows them to be in the subjunctive mood. Sachions is the nous form of the present subjunctive for savoir.
Is the subjunctive stem for savoir completely irregular?
Yes! For most verbs, you find the subjunctive stem by looking at the present tense ils form. However, savoir is one of the few verbs that uses a completely irregular stem: sach-. This stem is used for all subjects, giving us que je sache, que nous sachions, and so on.
Why does the sentence say ce qu'il faut faire instead of just translating "what to do" as quoi faire?
While you might hear quoi faire in very informal spoken French, ce qu'il faut faire (literally "that which it is necessary to do") is the standard, natural way to express "what to do" in a full sentence. Using il faut + infinitive is a very common way to express what "must" be done.
Why is it ce qu'il and not ce qui?
We use ce que (which shortens to ce qu' before the vowel in il) because it acts as the direct object of the action. You are doing something (what is necessary to do? -> ce qu'). You would use ce qui if "what" was the subject doing the action, like in ce qui est important (what is important).
Could I use feu instead of incendie for "fire"?
You could, but incendie is much better here. Un feu is a general word for any fire, including a cozy fireplace or a campfire. Un incendie specifically means an uncontrolled, destructive fire, like a house fire or a wildfire. Since this is about emergency preparedness, incendie is the precise word.

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