Breakdown of Nous doutons que les concurrents fassent des bénéfices.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
des
some (plural indefinite)
faire
to do, to make
que
that (introducing a clause)
douter
to doubt
le concurrent
the competitor
le bénéfice
the profit
Questions & Answers about Nous doutons que les concurrents fassent des bénéfices.
Why is fassent used here instead of the regular present tense font?
The phrase douter que (to doubt that) expresses uncertainty, which is a classic trigger for the subjunctive mood in French. Therefore, we must use the subjunctive form of faire (fassent) instead of the indicative (font).
How do we get the form fassent?
Faire is completely irregular in the subjunctive. Instead of using the normal present tense "ils" form as a base like regular verbs do, it uses the special stem fass-. Since les concurrents is a plural "they" subject, we add the standard subjunctive ending -ent to get fassent.
I know douter que takes the subjunctive, but what if the sentence used se douter que?
This is a very common trap! While douter que (to doubt) takes the subjunctive because of the uncertainty, se douter que means "to suspect" or "to guess." Because it expresses a strong belief that something is true, se douter que is followed by the normal indicative, not the subjunctive.
Why does the French sentence use des bénéfices (plural) when the English translation says "a profit" (singular)?
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