Breakdown of Soit que ce soit la paresse, soit que ce soit l'ignorance, ils finissent par rater.
être
to be
ce
it / this (with être)
ils
they (masculine/mixed)
finir
to finish
par
by, through / out of (motive)
rater
to miss / to botch / ruin / to fail / go wrong
soit que
whether it is because
la paresse
the laziness
l'ignorance
the ignorance (f)
Questions & Answers about Soit que ce soit la paresse, soit que ce soit l'ignorance, ils finissent par rater.
Why does the word soit appear twice in a row in soit que ce soit?
The structure soit que... soit que... (whether... or...) acts as a conjunction that always triggers the subjunctive. In this sentence, the verb following it is être (from the phrase c'est meaning "it is"). The subjunctive of c'est is ce soit. While saying soit que ce soit might look and sound a bit repetitive, it is perfectly correct and literally translates to "whether it be".
Can I use que... ou que... instead of soit que... soit que... here?
Absolutely. You could say Que ce soit la paresse ou que ce soit l'ignorance... and the meaning would remain exactly the same. Both structures require the subjunctive. Soit que... soit que... is just slightly more formal and puts a stronger stylistic emphasis on the two distinct alternatives.
Why do we need the preposition par in ils finissent par rater?
The phrase finir par followed by an infinitive is a highly useful fixed expression that means "to end up doing [something]" or "to finally do [something]". If you omitted par and just said ils finissent rater, it would incorrectly translate to "they finish failing," which misses the intended meaning completely.
Could I use the verb échouer instead of rater for "failing"?
Yes, échouer is an excellent synonym here. Rater is very common in everyday spoken French to talk about failing a test, missing an opportunity, or messing up. Échouer carries the exact same meaning but is slightly more formal.
Learn Soit que ce soit la paresse, soit que ce soit l'ignorance, ils finissent par rater and more in French
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free