Learn French: Que nous adoptions ce chat lui donne un nouveau foyer. - That we adopt this cat gives him a new home.

Que nous adoptions ce chat lui donne un nouveau foyer.

That we adopt this cat gives him a new home.

Breakdown of Que nous adoptions ce chat lui donne un nouveau foyer.

we / us (object pronoun)

lui

him / to him / to her (indirect object)

Questions & Answers about Que nous adoptions ce chat lui donne un nouveau foyer.

Why is the first verb, adoptions, in the subjunctive?

The clause Que nous adoptions ce chat (That we adopt this cat) acts as the subject of the entire sentence. In French, when a sentence begins with Que to introduce a subject clause, the verb inside that clause must always take the subjunctive.

adoptions looks exactly like the imperfect tense. How can I tell it's the present subjunctive?

For almost all French verbs, the nous and vous forms of the present subjunctive are identical to their imperfect tense forms. You know it is subjunctive here because the grammatical structure (the sentence-initial Que subject clause) strictly demands it.

Why is the main verb donne conjugated in the third-person singular when the sentence mentions nous?

The subject of donne isn't nous (we) or ce chat (this cat). The subject is the entire opening clause: Que nous adoptions ce chat (The fact that we are adopting this cat). When an entire clause acts as a subject, it is treated grammatically as a singular "it" (il).

Does lui refer to the cat? I thought it meant "to him" or "to her" for people.