Log inSign up

Il faut que tu saches mettre le gilet pour attendre les secours.

Il faut que tu saches mettre le gilet pour attendre les secours.
You must know how to put on the vest to wait for help.
From Lesson 186:Irregular present subjunctive (aller, faire, pouvoir, savoir, vouloir)·French

Questions & Answers about Il faut que tu saches mettre le gilet pour attendre les secours.

Why is it saches instead of the regular present tense sais?
The phrase Il faut que (It is necessary that / You must) always triggers the subjunctive mood. The verb savoir has a highly irregular subjunctive stem, sach-, which gives us que tu saches for the tu form.
Where is the word for "how" in saches mettre?
In English we say "know how to do something", but in French, you never use comment (how) in this structure. You just use savoir followed directly by an infinitive verb. Here, savoir mettre simply means "to know how to put on".
Why is attendre in the infinitive here?
It follows the preposition pour. When pour is followed directly by an infinitive verb, it means "in order to" or simply "to". So, pour attendre translates to "in order to wait".
Why is "help" translated as the plural les secours?
While English uses the singular uncountable noun "help", the French term les secours specifically refers to rescue or emergency services (like paramedics, the coast guard, or mountain rescue). It is always plural in this context.

Learn Il faut que tu saches mettre le gilet pour attendre les secours and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →