Breakdown of Bien que l'incident soit grave, nous voulons le fidéliser.
être
to be
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
vouloir
to want
grave
serious
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
bien que
although
l'incident
the incident (m)
fidéliser
to retain
Questions & Answers about Bien que l'incident soit grave, nous voulons le fidéliser.
Why is the subjunctive verb soit used here when the incident being serious is a known fact?
In French, the conjunction bien que (although / even though) always triggers the subjunctive, regardless of whether the statement is a fact or a mere possibility. It belongs to a group of expressions that show concession (acknowledging a point that contrasts with the main clause), which grammatically require the subjunctive mood.
The current lesson focuses on quoi que. Could we use quoi que instead of bien que in this sentence?
No, because they have different meanings. Bien que means "although" and introduces a specific fact (although the incident is serious). Quoi que means "whatever" or "no matter what." If you said Quoi que l'incident soit, it would mean "Whatever the incident is," which completely changes the sentence. However, both express concession and both require the subjunctive.
How does the verb fidéliser translate to "retain"?
As a quick refresher, why does the pronoun le go right before fidéliser and not before voulons?
When you have a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive (like voulons + fidéliser), the object pronoun almost always goes directly before the infinitive it logically belongs to. Since the action being done to "him" (the client) is the retaining, le is placed right before fidéliser.
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