Breakdown of Il refuse de vendre les francs sous prétexte que chaque centime a de la valeur.
il
he
avoir
to have
de la
some (partitive, feminine)
vendre
to sell
chaque
each / every
la valeur
the value
refuser
to refuse
de
to (introducing an infinitive after a verb)
le centime
the centime
sous prétexte que
on the pretext that
le franc
the franc
Questions & Answers about Il refuse de vendre les francs sous prétexte que chaque centime a de la valeur.
Why does sous prétexte que use the indicative verb a instead of the subjunctive here? Doesn't a pretext imply doubt?
Even though a pretext is an excuse and might be false, sous prétexte que introduces a statement that someone is actively claiming to be true as their reason. Because it reports a stated cause rather than expressing a subjective emotion, desire, or doubt from the speaker's perspective, it takes the indicative mood.
Why is it refuse de vendre and not just refuse vendre or refuse à vendre?
The verb refuser requires the preposition de when it is followed by an infinitive. Many French verbs need a specific preposition, like à or de, before an action, and these patterns just have to be memorized.
Why do we say a de la valeur rather than just a valeur?
In French, abstract nouns like valeur almost always require an article. Because value is an uncountable concept in this context, we use the partitive article de la to mean an unspecified amount of something. You can think of it literally as saying every centime has some value.
Could I use chacun instead of chaque for every centime?
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