Breakdown of Le virus va infecter son ordinateur à moins que le système ne trouve la faille.
l'ordinateur
the computer (m)
trouver
to find
son
his/her/its (son, sa, ses)
aller
to go
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
la
her, it (feminine direct object pronoun)
le système
the system
le virus
the virus
à moins que
unless
ne
expletive 'ne' (no negative meaning)
infecter
to infect
la faille
the flaw (vulnerability)
Questions & Answers about Le virus va infecter son ordinateur à moins que le système ne trouve la faille.
Why is there a ne before trouve if the English translation isn't negative?
This is called the ne explétif. It doesn't negate the verb; instead, it is a stylistic word triggered by certain expressions of warning, condition, or time, such as à moins que (unless), avant que (before), and de peur que (for fear that). It adds a slight sense of doubt or caution but doesn't change the literal meaning of the sentence.
Is the ne explétif mandatory after à moins que?
I know à moins que requires the subjunctive mood. Is trouve in the subjunctive here?
Yes, it is! For regular -er verbs like trouver, the present subjunctive forms for je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles are identical to the present indicative. So even though trouve looks like the normal present tense you learned early on, it is grammatically functioning as the subjunctive here.
Could I rephrase this sentence using si (if) instead of à moins que?
Absolutely! You could say ... si le système ne trouve pas la faille (if the system doesn't find the flaw). Notice that with si, you must use the indicative mood and a full, actual negation (ne ... pas). By contrast, à moins que already implies the negative condition, so it takes the subjunctive and only the optional, non-negative ne explétif.
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