Question 1

How exactly is voire used here to mean "and even"? Could I just use et même?

Accepted Answer

Voire is a coordinating conjunction used specifically to introduce a stronger, more extreme, or escalated idea. Here, it takes the severity of the symptom from grave (serious) to the next level: mortel (deadly). While you could use et même, voire is a very natural and slightly more elevated way to express this kind of "escalation" or "if not" progression in French.

Question 2

You sometimes hear people say voire même. Would that be correct in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

You will hear native speakers say voire même mortel quite often in spoken French. However, strictly speaking, it is a redundancy (a pleonasm) because voire already carries the meaning of "and even". In written or careful French, it is always better to stick to just voire, exactly as it is used in this sentence.

Question 3

Why is the verb être in the subjunctive form (soit) instead of the indicative (est)?

Accepted Answer

The phrase J'ai peur que (I am afraid that) expresses a strong emotion and a sense of uncertainty or fear. In French, expressions of emotion, doubt, or fear followed by que require the verb in the dependent clause to be in the subjunctive mood. That is why we use soit here.

Question 4

The word symptôme ends in an "e". How can I remember that it is masculine, taking ce instead of cette?

Accepted Answer

While many French nouns ending in "e" are feminine, words ending in the suffix -ôme are almost always masculine. This is a helpful pattern to remember for words of Greek origin, such as le fantôme (the ghost), le diplôme (the diploma), and le symptôme.

J'ai peur que ce symptôme respiratoire soit grave, voire mortel.

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