Question 1

What is the difference in nuance between au fur et à mesure que and pendant que in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

While pendant que simply means "while" (two things happening at the same time), au fur et à mesure que adds the idea of progression and proportion. It means the fixer is being prepared step-by-step, gradually keeping pace with the photo enlargement process.

Question 2

Does au fur et à mesure que always take the indicative mood, like tu agrandis here?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Because this conjunction describes an action happening in reality step-by-step, it deals with concrete, actual facts. Therefore, it triggers the regular indicative mood, never the subjunctive.

Question 3

Could I use au fur et à mesure on its own without que here?

Accepted Answer

Not with the second clause attached. You need que to connect the phrase to a new subject and verb (tu agrandis). However, you could drop the second clause entirely and just say Je prépare le fixateur au fur et à mesure to mean "I prepare the fixer as we go" or "step by step."

Question 4

I see grand (big) inside the verb agrandis. Is this a common way to form verbs in French?

Accepted Answer

Exactly! Agrandir is a regular -ir verb formed by adding the prefix a- and the suffix -ir to the adjective grand. This is a common pattern to mean "to make [adjective]"—for example, raccourcir (to shorten) from court (short), or alourdir (to make heavy) from lourd (heavy).

Je prépare le fixateur au fur et à mesure que tu agrandis la photo.

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