Breakdown of La surprise fonctionnera pour peu que nous trouvions le bon prétexte.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
la surprise
the surprise
trouver
to find
bon
good
Questions & Answers about La surprise fonctionnera pour peu que nous trouvions le bon prétexte.
Why is trouvions in the subjunctive in this sentence?
It follows the phrase pour peu que, which is a conjunction expressing a minimal condition. In French, conjunctions that set a condition or hypothesis (meaning the action isn't guaranteed to actually happen) almost always require the subjunctive mood.
Does pour peu que mean the exact same thing as à condition que?
trouvions looks exactly like the imperfect tense. How can I tell it is the subjunctive?
For regular -er verbs like trouver, the nous and vous forms of the present subjunctive are identical to their imperfect tense forms. You know it is the subjunctive here purely because the grammatical trigger pour peu que forces it to be.
Why does le bon prétexte translate to "the right pretext" instead of "the good pretext"?