Word
Il veut grimper au sommet, bien qu'il ait peur.
Meaning
He wants to climb to the summit, although he is afraid.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Il veut grimper au sommet, bien qu'il ait peur.
il
he
au
to the / at the (masculine singular)
vouloir
to want
avoir peur
to be afraid
Questions & Answers about Il veut grimper au sommet, bien qu'il ait peur.
Why is the verb ait used here instead of a?
Because the conjunction bien que (although / even though) always requires the verb that follows it to be in the subjunctive mood. Here, ait is the subjunctive form of avoir for the subject il.
Since both parts of the sentence are about the same person (Il), shouldn't we use an infinitive instead of the subjunctive?
Unlike some other conjunctions (for example, how pour que becomes pour + infinitive when the subject is the same), bien que does not have an infinitive equivalent. You must always use a conjugated subjunctive verb after it, even if the subject doesn't change.
The English translation says "he is afraid", but ait comes from avoir (to have). Why not use être (to be)?
In French, you don't "be" afraid, you "have" fear. The set expression is avoir peur. Since the sentence requires the subjunctive, the normal present tense il a peur turns into il ait peur.
Why is it au sommet and not à le sommet?