Breakdown of On doute que l'expert attribue ce tableau au faussaire.
on
one / we (informal)
ce
this (before a noun)
au
to the / at the (masculine singular)
le tableau
the painting
l'expert
the expert (m)
douter que
to doubt that
le faussaire
the forger
attribuer à
to attribute to
Questions & Answers about On doute que l'expert attribue ce tableau au faussaire.
Why is attribue in the subjunctive here?
Because the main clause uses On doute que (We doubt that). The verb douter expresses doubt or uncertainty, which triggers the subjunctive mood for the following verb. Even though attribue looks exactly like the normal present indicative for a regular -er verb, it is actually in the present subjunctive here!
How would this sentence change if we used se douter que instead?
If you used the reflexive On se doute que, the meaning would change to "We suspect that" or "We imagine that". Because se douter que expresses a strong belief rather than doubt, it triggers the indicative mood. The sentence would look identical—On se doute que l'expert attribue...—but in that case, attribue would grammatically be the present indicative rather than the subjunctive.
Why does it say au faussaire instead of à le faussaire?
The verb attribuer (to attribute) takes the preposition à when indicating who receives the attribution (attribuer quelque chose à quelqu'un). Because faussaire (forger) is a masculine noun, the preposition à must contract with the definite article le to form au.
The English translation says "We doubt", but doesn't on mean "one"?
While on traditionally means "one" or "people in general", in everyday spoken and informal French, it is the standard way to say "we". Remember that even when it means "we", on always takes a third-person singular verb, which is why we use doute instead of the first-person plural doutons.
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