Breakdown of Elle a verrouillé le tiroir de crainte que l'enfant touche le couteau.
elle
she
l'enfant
the child
avoir
to have
toucher
to touch
le tiroir
the drawer
le couteau
the knife
verrouiller
to lock
de crainte que
for fear that
Questions & Answers about Elle a verrouillé le tiroir de crainte que l'enfant touche le couteau.
Why is touche in the subjunctive here?
The conjunction de crainte que (for fear that) expresses a fear or worry about a potential outcome. Like its synonym de peur que, it always requires the following verb to be in the subjunctive mood.
Is touche really in the subjunctive? It looks exactly like the present indicative.
Yes, it is! For regular -er verbs like toucher, the present subjunctive forms for the singular subjects (je, tu, il/elle/on) and the third-person plural (ils/elles) are completely identical to their present indicative forms. You know it is the subjunctive here purely because of the conjunction that comes before it.
I thought de crainte que was supposed to be followed by ne. Why is it missing here?
You have a good memory! In formal or written French, de crainte que is usually followed by the ne explétif (an untranslated, non-negative ne), making it de crainte que l'enfant ne touche. However, in everyday spoken French, this extra ne is very frequently dropped, which is what happened in this sentence.
Could I use de peur que in this sentence instead?
Absolutely. De crainte que and de peur que mean exactly the same thing and are used in the exact same way, with both triggering the subjunctive. De crainte que just sounds slightly more formal or literary.
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