Breakdown of Pourvu qu'il gagne au loto ce soir !
il
he
au
to the / at the (masculine singular)
ce soir
tonight
gagner
to earn / to win
pourvu que
provided that / let's hope that (expressing a wish)
le loto
the lotto
Questions & Answers about Pourvu qu'il gagne au loto ce soir !
Why does pourvu que mean "let's hope that" here instead of "provided that"?
Is gagne really in the subjunctive here? It looks just like the normal present tense.
Yes, it is the subjunctive! Because pourvu que always triggers the subjunctive mood. For regular -er verbs like gagner, the je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles forms in the present subjunctive are spelled identically to the present indicative.
Why is it au loto instead of just le loto?
In English you "win the lotto", but in French, when referring to playing a game (like the lottery, cards, or a sport), you use the preposition à. Therefore, à + le loto becomes au loto (literally "to win at the lotto"). If you said gagner le loto, it would sound like you won ownership of the entire lottery company!
Could I just use espérer que (to hope that) to say this?
You can, but the grammar changes. While pourvu que takes the subjunctive, the affirmative espérer que takes the indicative mood (usually the future tense). So you would say Espérons qu'il gagnera au loto. Pourvu que is often preferred for this kind of quick, emotional exclamation.
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