Breakdown of Je prends la chaise de peur que le garçon grimpe.
je
I
le garçon
the boy
la chaise
the chair
prendre
to have (a meal/drink) / to take
grimper
to climb
de peur que
for fear that
Questions & Answers about Je prends la chaise de peur que le garçon grimpe.
Why is grimpe in the subjunctive here?
The conjunction de peur que (for fear that) expresses an emotion and a desire to avoid a potential outcome, which always triggers the subjunctive mood in French.
grimpe looks exactly like the normal present tense. How do we know it's the subjunctive?
For regular -er verbs like grimper, the present subjunctive forms for je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles are spelled identically to the normal present tense. Even though the spelling doesn't change, grammatically it is acting as the subjunctive here because it directly follows de peur que.
Shouldn't there be a ne before grimpe, like de peur que le garçon ne grimpe?
In formal or written French, you will usually see an extra ne (called the 'ne explétif') after de peur que. It doesn't make the sentence negative; it just emphasizes the feeling of fear or avoidance. However, in everyday spoken French, it is very common to leave it out, exactly as this sentence does.
Can I use parce que j'ai peur que instead of de peur que?
Learn Je prends la chaise de peur que le garçon grimpe and more in French
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free