Breakdown of Autant je suis censé adorer le snowboard, autant le golf me plaît.
je
I
me
me, myself (object pronoun)
autant
as much, as many
adorer
to love
plaire
to please, to be liked by
être censé
to be supposed to
le snowboard
the snowboard
le golf
the golf
Questions & Answers about Autant je suis censé adorer le snowboard, autant le golf me plaît.
Why do we use autant twice in this sentence, and how does it connect the two ideas?
The structure autant... autant... is used to show a strong parallel contrast, meaning 'as much as [A]..., so much [B]...'. It places equal weight on two contrasting facts. Both clauses after autant must use the indicative mood, which is why we see the normal present tense suis and plaît rather than subjunctive forms.
What does suis censé mean here, and does it change depending on who is speaking?
Why is it le golf me plaît instead of j'aime le golf?
While both mean you like golf, they are structured differently. Plaire literally means 'to please', so the sentence is built as 'golf pleases me'. The pronoun me is an indirect object receiving the action. Using plaire adds great variety to your French and sounds very natural when expressing tastes or hobbies.
Why do both snowboard and golf have the article le in this sentence?
In French, you must always use definite articles (le, la, les) when talking about general categories, concepts, or sports, especially with verbs of preference like adorer and plaire. English drops the article for sports ('snowboarding', 'golf'), but French requires it to show you mean the sport as a whole.
Learn Autant je suis censé adorer le snowboard, autant le golf me plaît and more in French
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free