Breakdown of Quand bien même le méchant y retournerait, sa faiblesse serait toujours un problème.
être
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
toujours
always
le problème
the problem
son
his/her/its
retourner
to return, to go back
y
there (pronoun) / to it
quand bien même
even if (formal, followed by conditional)
le méchant
the villain
la faiblesse
the weakness
Questions & Answers about Quand bien même le méchant y retournerait, sa faiblesse serait toujours un problème.
Why is retournerait in the conditional mood here, when 'even if' usually takes the imperfect?
Normally, 'even if' translates to même si, which is followed by the imperfect tense (like même s'il y retournait). However, the phrase quand bien même is a formal structure that specifically requires the conditional mood to emphasize that the situation is highly hypothetical.
The English translation says 'returned', which is past tense. Why doesn't the French use a past tense?
English uses the simple past ('returned') to show a present or future hypothetical situation. Because French requires the conditional mood after quand bien même, it literally translates to 'even if the villain would return there'. While that sounds clunky in English, it is the required grammar in French.
I usually see méchant used as an adjective meaning 'mean'. Is it common to use it as a noun?
Yes! While méchant is a very common adjective for 'mean' or 'nasty', putting a definite article in front of it to make it a noun (le méchant) turns it into 'the villain' or 'the bad guy' in the context of a story or movie.
Why is toujours translated as 'still' instead of 'always'?
The adverb toujours frequently means 'still' (an ongoing situation) as well as 'always'. In this context, saying his weakness would 'still' be a problem is the most natural interpretation of the hypothetical scenario. If you wanted to be absolutely unambiguous about meaning 'still', you could also use encore.
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