Breakdown of En admettant que ce témoignage soit vrai, nous aurons un problème.
être
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
avoir
to have
Questions & Answers about En admettant que ce témoignage soit vrai, nous aurons un problème.
Why is the subjunctive verb soit used after en admettant que?
The phrase en admettant que introduces a hypothesis—a condition that might or might not be true. Because the truth of the statement is uncertain and is just being entertained for the sake of argument, French requires the subjunctive mood (soit).
Why is the main clause in the future tense (nous aurons) rather than the conditional?
When you use en admettant que + subjunctive, the main clause often takes the present or future indicative (nous aurons) to show what will realistically happen if the condition is met. You could use the conditional (nous aurions) if you wanted to make the consequence sound even more hypothetical, but the future tense makes it a direct, likely outcome.
Does en admettant que imply someone is actually "admitting" or confessing to something?
Not in this structure. When followed by que and the subjunctive, it is a set phrase meaning "assuming that" or "supposing that." To say someone actually confesses or acknowledges a fact, you would use the verb admettre followed by the indicative, as in il admet qu'il a menti (he admits that he lied).
Is there a trick to remembering the gender of témoignage so I know to use ce?