Breakdown of Regarde la minuterie en attendant que le gâteau dore.
regarder
to watch
le gâteau
the cake
en attendant que
while waiting for / until (in the meantime)
la minuterie
the timer (countdown)
dorer
to brown
Questions & Answers about Regarde la minuterie en attendant que le gâteau dore.
Why does this sentence use dore after que, and is it in the subjunctive?
Yes, it is in the subjunctive! The conjunction en attendant que (while waiting for) always requires the subjunctive mood. Because dorer is a regular -er verb, its third-person singular subjunctive form (qu'il dore) happens to look exactly like the present indicative, but it is grammatically subjunctive here.
Could I use jusqu'à ce que instead of en attendant que here?
Yes, you could say jusqu'à ce que le gâteau dore (until the cake browns). Both conjunctions require the subjunctive mood. However, en attendant que emphasizes the waiting period (watch the timer while you wait), whereas jusqu'à ce que focuses strictly on the endpoint (watch it until the moment it browns).
Why is the command Regarde written without an -s at the end?
This is a quick refresher on the imperative (command) mood. For the tu form (informal singular you), regular -er verbs drop the final -s. So, while the present tense is tu regardes, the command is simply Regarde.
What is the infinitive of dore and what does it literally mean?
The infinitive is dorer. It literally means to gild (to cover with gold), coming from the noun or (gold). In a culinary context, it is the standard French verb for to brown or to turn golden when baking or frying.
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