Learn French: Pour aveuglant qu'il soit, le blizzard ne ralentit guère le traîneau. - However blinding it may be, the blizzard hardly slows down the sled.

Word

Pour aveuglant qu'il soit, le blizzard ne ralentit guère le traîneau.

Meaning

However blinding it may be, the blizzard hardly slows down the sled.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

French

Lesson

Advanced concession (pour + adjective + que)

Breakdown of Pour aveuglant qu'il soit, le blizzard ne ralentit guère le traîneau.

être

to be

not (used before the verb)

ralentir

to slow down

Questions & Answers about Pour aveuglant qu'il soit, le blizzard ne ralentit guère le traîneau.

How does the phrase pour aveuglant qu'il soit work to mean 'however blinding it may be'?

This sentence uses the advanced structure pour + adjective + que + subjunctive to express a concession. Even though it translates literally as 'for blinding that it be', it is a fixed expression meaning 'however [adjective] it may be'. Here, it pairs with soit, which is the subjunctive form of être.

What does il refer to in qu'il soit?

The pronoun il refers to le blizzard, which appears later in the sentence. In French, it is very common in this specific concessive structure to use a pronoun in the dependent clause that points forward to the subject of the main clause.

Why is there a ne before ralentit without a pas to complete the negation?

The word pas is replaced here by guère. The pair ne ... guère is a slightly formal negative structure meaning 'hardly', 'scarcely', or 'barely'. It wraps around the conjugated verb exactly the same way that ne ... pas does.

Is aveuglant a verb or an adjective here?