Breakdown of Ils affirment que la terre est plate.
être
to be
ils
they (masculine/mixed)
que
that (introducing a clause)
la terre
the earth, ground
Questions & Answers about Ils affirment que la terre est plate.
Why is the indicative est used here instead of the subjunctive soit? Doesn't 'claiming' something false introduce doubt?
Even though the statement is objectively false, the verb affirmer (to claim/assert) expresses a certainty in the mind of the subject making the claim. In French, verbs of declaring, thinking, and believing take the indicative mood in the affirmative. You would only use the subjunctive if the verb were negative (ils n'affirment pas que...) or inverted in a question.
Can we drop que just like we often drop 'that' in English?
No, you can never drop que in French. While in English you can say 'They claim the earth is flat,' in French the conjunction que must always explicitly connect the two clauses.
Is affirmer a direct translation of 'to affirm'?
Why isn't terre capitalized here, since it refers to the planet Earth?