Question 1

Why is there a ne in the second half of the sentence, but no pas? Does it make the sentence negative?

Accepted Answer

This is the ne explétif, which is completely optional and doesn't make the sentence negative. In formal French, it is often added after affirmative comparisons like plus... que or moins... que. It simply emphasizes the gap between reality (the market being lucrative) and your prior expectation.

Question 2

Why is there an l' before envisagions? The English translation doesn't say "than we envisioned it".

Accepted Answer

French often uses the neuter pronoun le (contracted to l' here before a vowel) to refer back to the idea in the first part of the sentence—in this case, the concept of the market being lucratif. While English drops the object, French strongly prefers a grammatically complete thought: "than we envisioned it [to be]".

Question 3

Why use the imperfect tense (envisagions) instead of the passé composé (avons envisagé)?

Accepted Answer

The imperfect is used because your expectation was an ongoing state of mind leading up to this moment. The passé composé would sound like a single, isolated action completed and finished in the past, which doesn't fit the continuous, background nature of "envisioning" something.

Question 4

Could we use a simpler verb like penser instead of envisager here?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. que nous ne le pensions or que nous ne l'imaginions are very common alternatives. Envisager (to consider/envision) simply provides a slightly more formal, strategic tone that pairs well with the business context of a marché lucratif.

Le marché est plus lucratif que nous ne l'envisagions.

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