Question 1

Does the Autant... autant... structure require the subjunctive?

Accepted Answer

No, it is followed by the indicative, which is why we use the standard present tense forms sommes and voulons here. This structure is used to strongly contrast two ongoing facts, essentially meaning "As much as [fact A is true], so much [fact B is true]."

Question 2

I often confuse censé and sensé. Why is it censés in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Être censé followed by an infinitive (like faire) means "to be supposed to" do something. Its homophone sensé means "sensible" or "rational" (derived from the word sens). Note that censés acts as an adjective here and agrees with the subject nous, which is why it has an s at the end.

Question 3

Why isn't there a preposition like de or à after essayer?

Accepted Answer

Because essayer is followed directly by a noun (l'escalade). You only need the preposition de when essayer is followed by an infinitive verb, such as in the phrase essayer de faire de l'escalade (to try to go climbing).

Question 4

Just to review, why is it faire de la voile rather than faire la voile?

Accepted Answer

When talking about participating in a sport or an activity, French generally pairs the verb faire with a partitive article (du, de la, de l', or des). Since voile (sailing) is a feminine noun, we use de la.

Autant nous sommes censés faire de la voile, autant nous voulons essayer l'escalade.

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