Breakdown of Tu accéléreras la récupération à condition de te reposer.
tu
you (informal singular)
se reposer
to rest
accélérer
to accelerate
à condition de
on the condition of
la récupération
the recovery
Questions & Answers about Tu accéléreras la récupération à condition de te reposer.
Why do we use à condition de + infinitive here instead of à condition que?
We use à condition de because the subject of both actions is the same person (tu). When the same subject performs both actions, French prefers using the preposition de + infinitive. If the subjects were different, you would use à condition que followed by the subjunctive (for example: Il accélérera la récupération à condition que tu te reposes).
Since the verb is in the infinitive, shouldn't the reflexive pronoun stay as se?
No, even when a reflexive verb is in its infinitive form, the reflexive pronoun must still agree with the implied subject performing the action. Because the subject of the sentence is tu, the phrase must be te reposer rather than the dictionary form se reposer.
Why does accéléreras keep the acute accent (é) in the future tense? Shouldn't it change to a grave accent (è)?
Traditionally, verbs ending in -érer keep their acute accent in the future and conditional tenses (tu accéléreras). However, the 1990 spelling reform allowed these verbs to take a grave accent (tu accélèreras) to better match the spoken pronunciation. You will see both spellings in modern French, and both are completely correct!
Could I express the exact same idea using pourvu que?
Yes, but the grammatical structure would change. Unlike à condition que, the phrase pourvu que (which also means 'provided that') is followed by the subjunctive even when the subjects are the same. You would have to say ...pourvu que tu te reposes. There is no pourvu de + infinitive equivalent.
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