Learn French: Je doute que les investisseurs puissent convaincre les clients. - I doubt that the investors can convince the clients.

Je doute que les investisseurs puissent convaincre les clients.

I doubt that the investors can convince the clients.

Breakdown of Je doute que les investisseurs puissent convaincre les clients.

le client

the client / the customer

pouvoir

to be able to / can

que

that (introducing a clause)

Questions & Answers about Je doute que les investisseurs puissent convaincre les clients.

Why do we use puissent instead of the normal present tense peuvent here?

Puissent is the subjunctive form of pouvoir (can / to be able to). The phrase je doute que (I doubt that) expresses doubt and uncertainty, which forces the verb in the following clause into the subjunctive mood.

Is puissent a regular subjunctive form?

No, pouvoir is highly irregular in the subjunctive. Its stem changes completely to puiss- for all subjects. Since les investisseurs represents a plural "they" (ils), we add the standard third-person plural ending -ent to get puissent.

Why isn't the verb convaincre conjugated in the subjunctive too?

Because it directly follows another conjugated verb (puissent). When a helping or modal verb like pouvoir is used, the main action verb that follows it always stays in the infinitive (dictionary) form. This works just like English: we say "can convince," not "can convinces."

Would we still use the subjunctive if the sentence was negative (Je ne doute pas que)?

Usually, no! If you say Je ne doute pas que (I do not doubt that), you are actually expressing certainty. Because there is no longer any doubt, you typically switch back to the normal indicative mood: Je ne doute pas que les investisseurs peuvent...