Log inSign up

Vous devez vérifier le montant annuel avant de signer.

Vous devez vérifier le montant annuel avant de signer.
You must verify the annual amount before signing.
From Lesson 426:Positional adjective agreement (ci-joint, ci-inclus)·French

Questions & Answers about Vous devez vérifier le montant annuel avant de signer.

Why is it avant de signer instead of avant que vous signiez?
When the subject of both actions is the same (you are verifying and you are signing), French uses avant de followed by the infinitive. You would use avant que followed by the subjunctive only if the subjects were different, such as 'You must verify before I sign'.
Why is the adjective annuel placed after montant?
Adjectives that classify a noun into a specific factual category—such as time periods, shapes, colors, or nationalities—almost always go after the noun in French. Since annuel tells us exactly what kind of financial amount this is, it must follow le montant.
Why is there no preposition like à or de between devez and vérifier?
Devoir is a modal verb, much like 'must' or 'can' in English. In French, modal verbs connect directly to the following infinitive without any intervening preposition.
Could I use le chiffre instead of le montant to mean 'the amount' here?
No, le montant specifically refers to a financial sum or total amount of money. Le chiffre generally means 'the digit' or 'the figure' (like a statistic or a numeral), so it would not fit this administrative context.

Learn Vous devez vérifier le montant annuel avant de signer and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →