Question 1

Why is there a ne before soit if the sentence isn't negative?

Accepted Answer

This is called the ne explétif (expletive ne). It doesn't make the sentence negative; rather, it highlights the negative idea already built into à moins que (unless). It is mostly used in formal or written French. In everyday spoken French, you will often hear it dropped: à moins que notre tarif soit le moins cher.

Question 2

Why do we use soit instead of est here?

Accepted Answer

The conjunction à moins que always triggers the subjunctive mood because it introduces a hypothetical condition or exception. Therefore, we must use soit (the subjunctive form of être) instead of the present indicative est.

Question 3

Is there a way to say "unless" in this context without having to use the subjunctive?

Accepted Answer

Yes! A very common alternative to à moins que is sauf si (except if). The great thing about sauf si is that it is followed by the normal indicative mood. You could rephrase the end of this sentence as: sauf si notre tarif est le moins cher.

Question 4

If the noun were feminine, like offre (offer), would le moins cher change?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In French, superlatives must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. If the sentence used the feminine noun offre, both the article and the adjective would change to match it: à moins que notre offre ne soit la moins chère. Because tarif is masculine, we use le moins cher.

Le client annule le contrat, à moins que notre tarif ne soit le moins cher.

Breakdown of Le client annule le contrat, à moins que notre tarif ne soit le moins cher.

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