Question 1

Why does the sentence use et que instead of et comme?

Accepted Answer

To avoid repeating the subordinating conjunction comme (since). In French, when you have two coordinated clauses that share the same conjunction like comme, quand, or lorsque, you replace the second instance with que.

Question 2

Does the verb after this replacement que need to be in the subjunctive?

Accepted Answer

Not in this case. When que replaces comme, quand, lorsque, or puisque, the verb stays in the indicative mood, just as it would after the original word. Here, pollue is in the present indicative. Note that if que were replacing si (if), it would trigger the subjunctive!

Question 3

Could I move the comme clause to the end of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

No. When comme is used to mean "since" or "because," it almost always has to go at the very beginning of the sentence. If you wanted to put the cause at the end, you would need to switch to parce que or puisque.

Question 4

Why do we use ce qui here instead of ce que for "what"?

Accepted Answer

Ce qui is used because "what" is the subject of the clause (it is doing the action of being important). You would use ce que if "what" were the object of the verb. You cannot use quoi here because quoi generally follows a preposition or is used in direct questions.

Question 5

Why is there a c'est before l'environnement?

Accepted Answer

This is a common French structure for emphasis. The phrase ce qui est important acts as a long introductory subject meaning "the thing which is important." French uses a comma and then c'est to cleanly and emphatically link this long subject phrase to the actual answer (l'environnement).

Comme la consommation augmente et que le gaz fossile pollue, ce qui est important, c'est l'environnement.

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