Breakdown of Vous devriez vous inscrire, à condition que l'abonnement mensuel ne soit pas cher.
être
to be
vous
you (plural/formal)
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
cher
expensive
devoir
to have to / must
s'inscrire
to register
à condition que
provided that
l'abonnement
the subscription (m)
mensuel
monthly
Questions & Answers about Vous devriez vous inscrire, à condition que l'abonnement mensuel ne soit pas cher.
Why is soit used instead of est at the end of the sentence?
Soit is the subjunctive form of être (to be). It is required here because it follows the conjunction à condition que (provided that). In French, conjunctions that set a strict condition or requirement almost always trigger the subjunctive mood, because the outcome is hypothetical and not guaranteed.
Could I just use si (if) instead of à condition que?
Yes, you could! However, the grammar would change. The word si does not trigger the subjunctive, so you would use the normal indicative mood: si l'abonnement mensuel n'est pas cher. Using à condition que is just a bit more formal and emphasizes the requirement, much like "provided that" versus "if" in English.
Why use devriez instead of devez?
Devriez is the conditional mood of devoir (must / to have to). While vous devez means "you must" or "you have to", using the conditional vous devriez softens the phrase to mean "you should" or "you ought to". It's the standard way to give advice in French.
Why is there a second vous right before inscrire?
The verb s'inscrire (to register / to sign up) is reflexive. Even though the verb is left in its infinitive form because it follows the conjugated verb devriez, the reflexive pronoun still has to change to match the subject vous. Literally, you are saying "You should register yourself".
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