Word
Je creuse la terre pour que la racine trouve de l'eau.
Meaning
I dig the earth so that the root finds water.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Je creuse la terre pour que la racine trouve de l'eau.
je
I
l'eau
the water
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
trouver
to find
Questions & Answers about Je creuse la terre pour que la racine trouve de l'eau.
Why do we use pour que here instead of just pour?
You use pour followed by an infinitive when the same person is doing both actions. Here, the subjects are different: you are digging (Je), but the root (la racine) is finding the water. When the subject changes, you must use pour que followed by a conjugated verb.
The lesson is about the subjunctive, but trouve looks like the regular present tense. Is it really subjunctive?
Yes, it is! For regular -er verbs like trouver, the subjunctive forms for je, tu, il/elle, and ils/elles are spelled exactly the same as the present indicative. Even though it looks identical, it is grammatically in the subjunctive mood because it directly follows pour que.
Could I use afin que instead of pour que in this sentence?
Absolutely. Afin que means exactly the same thing as pour que (so that / in order that) and also requires the subjunctive. The only difference is that afin que sounds a bit more formal or literary, whereas pour que is used heavily in everyday conversations.
Why is it de l'eau and not just l'eau?