Breakdown of Je paie la pénalité à condition que vous annuliez l'abonnement.
je
I
vous
you (plural/formal)
payer
to pay
annuler
to cancel
à condition que
provided that
l'abonnement
the subscription (m)
la pénalité
the penalty
Questions & Answers about Je paie la pénalité à condition que vous annuliez l'abonnement.
Why do we use the subjunctive form annuliez here instead of the indicative present tense annulez?
The phrase à condition que (provided that) always requires the subjunctive mood. It introduces a condition that must be met for the main action (je paie) to happen, so it deals with a hypothetical situation rather than a guaranteed fact.
Wait, vous annuliez looks exactly like the imperfect tense (imparfait). How do I know it's the subjunctive?
For regular -er verbs like annuler, the nous and vous forms in the present subjunctive are spelled exactly the same as they are in the imperfect tense (ending in -ions and -iez). The context here—specifically the trigger phrase à condition que—is how you know it is the subjunctive.
Is Je paie a typo for Je paye?
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