Learn French: Nous arrosons toutes les graines afin qu'elles poussent vite. - We water all the seeds so that they grow quickly.

Nous arrosons toutes les graines afin qu'elles poussent vite.

We water all the seeds so that they grow quickly.

Breakdown of Nous arrosons toutes les graines afin qu'elles poussent vite.

nous

we / us (object pronoun)

Questions & Answers about Nous arrosons toutes les graines afin qu'elles poussent vite.

Is poussent in the subjunctive here? It looks exactly like the normal present tense!

Yes, it is! For regular -er verbs like pousser, the subjunctive forms for ils/elles (as well as je, tu, and il/elle) look identical to the present indicative. Even though it doesn't look different, the conjunction afin que absolutely requires the subjunctive here.

What is the difference between afin que and pour que? Could I use pour que in this sentence?

You can absolutely use pour que here (pour qu'elles poussent). Both mean 'so that' or 'in order that' and both require the subjunctive. afin que is just slightly more formal and is used more often in writing, while pour que is extremely common in everyday speech.

Why do we use poussent for 'grow' instead of grandissent?

In French, pousser is used for plants, hair, and teeth—things that physically sprout or push out of a surface. You use grandir when talking about people or animals growing up or getting bigger.

Why is it toutes les graines and not tous les graines?