Learn French: Elle achète ses concurrents dans le but de créer un monopole. - It buys its competitors with the aim of creating a monopoly.

Elle achète ses concurrents dans le but de créer un monopole.

It buys its competitors with the aim of creating a monopoly.

Breakdown of Elle achète ses concurrents dans le but de créer un monopole.

Questions & Answers about Elle achète ses concurrents dans le but de créer un monopole.

Why do we use an infinitive (créer) after dans le but de here, rather than a conjugated verb?

The expression dans le but de (with the aim of) is always followed by either a noun or a verb in the infinitive. Because the subject of the main clause (Elle) is the same as the entity doing the creating, we use the infinitive créer. If there were two different subjects, you would use dans le but que followed by the subjunctive.

Why is Elle translated as "It" instead of "She"?

In French, all nouns have a gender, and pronouns must match that gender. Here, Elle likely refers to a feminine noun like l'entreprise or la société (the company). English translates this as "it" because companies do not have a biological gender.

Could I just use pour instead of dans le but de in this sentence?

Yes, grammatically you could say pour créer un monopole. However, dans le but de is more formal and emphasizes the specific strategic goal behind the action. It translates closer to "with the aim of" or "for the purpose of" rather than a simple "to" or "in order to".

Why does achète have a grave accent (è) when the infinitive acheter does not?