Breakdown of Autant la voile me passionne, autant la plongée m'effraie.
me
me, myself (object pronoun)
autant
as much, as many
effrayer
to frighten
la voile
the sailing
passionner
to fascinate
la plongée
the scuba diving
Questions & Answers about Autant la voile me passionne, autant la plongée m'effraie.
How exactly does the Autant... autant... structure work to contrast ideas here?
It sets up a parallel contrast between two clauses, showing that two opposing feelings exist with equal intensity. Notice that it is followed by the indicative mood (passionne, effraie). Even though strong emotions are involved, you do not use the subjunctive with this structure.
Why is autant placed at the beginning of each clause instead of next to the verbs?
When used for parallel contrast, autant is placed at the very beginning of the clause for stylistic emphasis. Even though it is technically modifying the verbs passionne and effraie (meaning the activities fascinate and scare you an equal amount), putting autant first acts like a pair of scales balancing the two statements.
Is the verb effraie irregular? The infinitive is effrayer.
Why do we use me and m' directly before the verbs here?
This is a quick refresher on object pronouns. The verbs passionner (to fascinate) and effrayer (to frighten) both act directly on the person experiencing the emotion. Therefore, the direct object pronoun me (which contracts to m' before a vowel) is placed immediately before the conjugated verb.
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