Breakdown of J'ai peur que le chantier de l'autoroute arrête ce changement culturel.
je
I
ce
this (before a noun)
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
avoir peur
to be afraid
que
that (introducing a clause)
arrêter
to stop (something), to arrest
le chantier
the construction site
l'autoroute
the highway (f)
le changement
the change
culturel
cultural
Questions & Answers about J'ai peur que le chantier de l'autoroute arrête ce changement culturel.
The English translation says "will stop" (future), but arrête is in the present. Why don't we use a future tense here?
Wait, arrête looks exactly like the normal present tense. Is it really the subjunctive?
Yes! For regular -er verbs like arrêter, the present subjunctive forms for je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles are completely identical to the normal present tense (the indicative). Grammatically, it is considered subjunctive here because it is triggered by J'ai peur que.
Could I just use de and an infinitive, like J'ai peur de le chantier arrêter...?
No, because the person feeling the fear and the thing doing the action are different. You use avoir peur de + infinitive only when the subject stays the same (for example, J'ai peur d'arrêter means "I am afraid that I will stop"). When the subject changes from "I" to "the construction site", you must use que + the subjunctive.
Why do we use ce for "this" in ce changement culturel instead of cet?
Changement is a masculine singular noun that starts with a consonant, so it takes the standard masculine demonstrative adjective ce. You only use cet for masculine singular nouns when they start with a vowel or a silent 'h' (like cet arbre or cet homme).
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