Question 1

Why is the subjunctive verb soit used after en admettant que?

Accepted Answer

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).

Question 2

Why is the main clause in the future tense (nous aurons) rather than the conditional?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 3

Does en admettant que imply someone is actually "admitting" or confessing to something?

Accepted Answer

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).

Question 4

Is there a trick to remembering the gender of témoignage so I know to use ce?

Accepted Answer

Yes! French nouns ending in the suffix -age are almost always masculine, which is why it uses the masculine demonstrative adjective ce (this). There are only a few common feminine exceptions to watch out for, such as la page, la plage, and l'image.

En admettant que ce témoignage soit vrai, nous aurons un problème.

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