Breakdown of Pour aveuglant qu'il soit, le blizzard ne ralentit guère le traîneau.
être
to be
il
he
ne
not (used before the verb)
ralentir
to slow down
que
that (introducing a clause)
guère
hardly
le blizzard
the blizzard
pour
however (in 'pour... que' concession)
aveuglant
blinding
le traîneau
the sled (sleigh, often pulled by animals)
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?
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?
It functions as an adjective here, meaning 'blinding'. It is derived from the present participle of the verb aveugler (to blind). Because it acts as a normal adjective in this structure, it must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes. Here, it remains masculine singular to match le blizzard.
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