Learn French: La diversion va réussir pour peu que tu le distraies. - The diversion is going to succeed, provided that you distract him.

It follows the conjunction pour peu que, which means "provided that" or "if only." Because this sets up a hypothetical condition that must be met for the diversion to succeed, French requires the subjunctive mood.

Does pour peu que mean the exact same thing as à condition que?

They are very similar and both require the subjunctive, but pour peu que emphasizes that the condition is minimal. It implies "if you do even just this little thing" or "the moment you distract him." À condition que is a more neutral "on the condition that."

The verb form distraies looks strange. How is this subjunctive formed?

It comes from the irregular verb distraire (to distract). To find the subjunctive stem, we take the present tense ils form (ils distraient) and drop the -ent, giving us distrai-. Then we add the subjunctive ending for tu, which is -es, resulting in que tu distraies.

Is diversion used exactly like the English word "diversion"?

Yes, in the sense of a distraction or a tactical maneuver, une diversion is exactly the same. Just watch out for the related verb divertir, which usually means "to entertain" or "to amuse" rather than "to divert attention."