Breakdown of Nous avons peur que le projet détruise la forêt.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
la forêt
the forest
le projet
the project
avoir peur
to be afraid
que
that (introducing a clause)
détruire
to destroy
Questions & Answers about Nous avons peur que le projet détruise la forêt.
Why is détruise in the subjunctive instead of the normal present tense?
In French, expressions of emotion or feeling followed by que require the subjunctive mood. Because the first part of the sentence uses avoir peur que (to be afraid that), it triggers the subjunctive for the verb in the second part of the sentence.
The English translation says "will destroy", but is détruise a future tense?
What is the infinitive of détruise and how do we find its subjunctive stem?
The infinitive is détruire (to destroy). To find its subjunctive stem, you take the present tense ils/elles form, which is ils détruisent. Drop the -ent to get the stem détruis-, and then add the subjunctive ending for il/elle/on, which is -e, giving us détruise.
I thought we had to add an extra ne after avoir peur que. Is it missing here?
In formal written French, you will often see a ne added before the verb in these situations, like que le projet ne détruise. This is called the "ne explétif" and it doesn't make the sentence negative at all; it just highlights the fear. However, it is completely optional and almost always dropped in everyday spoken French, which is why it isn't used here.
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