Breakdown of Quand tu réduis ta consommation et que tu ne gaspilles pas l'énergie, ça rend le monde meilleur.
tu
you (informal singular)
et
and
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
que
what (unstressed)
quand
when
ton
your (ton, ta, tes)
le monde
the world
l'énergie
the energy (f)
ça
that, it
meilleur
better
rendre
to make (+ adjective)
réduire
to reduce
la consommation
the consumption
gaspiller
to waste
Questions & Answers about Quand tu réduis ta consommation et que tu ne gaspilles pas l'énergie, ça rend le monde meilleur.
Why is there a que after et in the first half of the sentence?
Does the verb after this substituting que always take the indicative mood, like tu ne gaspilles pas does here?
It depends on the original conjunction being replaced! Because que is substituting for quand here, it takes the indicative mood (just like quand does). However, if que were replacing si (if), the verb following it would have to be in the subjunctive mood.
Why does the sentence use ça rend instead of ça fait for 'it makes'?
In French, when you 'make' a noun into a certain state or condition (meaning it is followed by an adjective), you must use the verb rendre. Because the sentence is making the world 'better' (the adjective meilleur), ça rend is the correct choice. You only use faire when making someone or something perform an action.
Could we just leave out the que and say ...et tu ne gaspilles pas like we do in English?
No, in standard French you cannot just link the two dependent clauses with et alone. To be grammatically correct, you must either repeat the original conjunction (et quand tu ne gaspilles pas) or use que to bridge them. While you might hear the conjunction dropped in very casual speech, using que is the expected standard.
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