Breakdown of À supposer que le procureur dise la vérité, l'accusé ira en prison.
aller
to go
en
in, to
dire
to say, to tell
la vérité
the truth
la prison
the prison
l'accusé
the accused (m)
le procureur
the prosecutor
à supposer que
supposing that
Questions & Answers about À supposer que le procureur dise la vérité, l'accusé ira en prison.
Why is dise in the subjunctive here instead of the indicative?
The phrase à supposer que (supposing that / assuming that) sets up a hypothesis or a condition that is not confirmed to be true. Expressions that introduce a hypothetical scenario in this way require the subjunctive mood. Here, dise is the present subjunctive of the verb dire (to say/tell).
Why do we use the future tense (ira) in the second part of the sentence?
When you make a hypothesis about the present or future, the consequence is often in the future tense (le futur simple). Even though the first part uses the subjunctive because of à supposer que, the sequence of tenses follows the same logic as a typical if-then statement: Assuming X is true now, Y will happen later.
How do I remember the subjunctive form dise?
Be careful not to confuse it with the indicative! The present indicative for il/elle is dit (as in il dit). The subjunctive is built from the ils/elles present indicative stem (ils disent). You drop the -ent and add the subjunctive -e ending, which gives us il dise.
Could I use en admettant que in this sentence instead?
Yes, absolutely! En admettant que (admitting that / assuming that) is very similar in meaning to à supposer que and also requires the subjunctive. You could say En admettant que le procureur dise la vérité... with almost no change in meaning.
Why is there no article before prison in the phrase en prison?
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