Breakdown of Soit que ce soit par fierté, soit que l'intention soit bonne, il cache la vérité.
être
to be
il
he
ce
it / this (with être)
cacher
to hide
bon
good
par
by, through / out of (motive)
la vérité
the truth
soit que
whether it is because
l'intention
the intention (f)
la fierté
the pride
Questions & Answers about Soit que ce soit par fierté, soit que l'intention soit bonne, il cache la vérité.
Why is soit repeated right next to itself in Soit que ce soit?
The first soit belongs to the conjunction soit que (whether). The second soit is the verb être (to be) conjugated in the subjunctive mood to match the subject pronoun ce (it). Literally, this phrase means "whether it be".
Why do we use the subjunctive mood (soit) in both of these clauses?
The paired conjunction soit que... soit que... (whether... or...) introduces alternative possibilities or hypotheses. Because these are unverified conditions rather than stated facts, French requires the subjunctive mood in both clauses.
Could we use ou que instead of repeating soit que for the second alternative?
Why is there no article before fierté in the phrase par fierté?
When the preposition par is used to express the driving emotion or motive behind an action (translating to "out of" in English), the noun that follows usually drops its article. You will see this in many similar phrases, such as par amour (out of love) or par jalousie (out of jealousy).
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