Breakdown of Quand bien même il aurait une force surhumaine, il aurait peur de la magie.
un
a / an (masculine)
il
he
avoir
to have
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
avoir peur
to be afraid
la magie
the magic
la force
the strength
quand bien même
even if (formal, followed by conditional)
surhumain
superhuman
Questions & Answers about Quand bien même il aurait une force surhumaine, il aurait peur de la magie.
Why do we use the conditional aurait right after quand bien même? I learned that 'even if' takes the imperfect tense.
You are likely thinking of même si, which translates to 'even if' and is followed by the imperfect (même s'il avait). However, quand bien même is a fixed expression used for strong hypotheses and it specifically requires the conditional mood. This is why we see the conditional aurait used in both clauses of this sentence.
How does the nuance change if I substitute même si for quand bien même?
Why is it de la magie instead of just de magie at the end of the sentence?
The phrase for 'to be afraid of' is avoir peur de. In English, we just say 'magic' for the general concept, but French requires a definite article for general concepts (la magie). So, you need both the preposition de from the expression and the article la from the noun, resulting in de la magie.
Is the word bien adding the meaning of 'well' to this sentence?
Not here! In the phrase quand bien même, the words work together as a single block meaning 'even if' or 'even though.' You shouldn't try to translate quand, bien, or même individually in this context.
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