Breakdown of Il écrit son prénom sur la glacière de peur qu'on la vole.
il
he
on
one / we (informal)
sur
on
le prénom
the first name
Questions & Answers about Il écrit son prénom sur la glacière de peur qu'on la vole.
Why is the verb vole used here instead of a future tense, since the stealing would happen in the future?
The phrase de peur que (for fear that) always triggers the subjunctive mood in French, regardless of when the feared event might happen. Even though the potential theft is in the future, you must use the present subjunctive vole. Note that for regular -er verbs like voler, the subjunctive on vole looks exactly like the present indicative.
I've seen sentences with de peur que include an extra ne. Could we say de peur qu'on ne la vole here?
Yes, you absolutely can! The expression de peur que frequently takes a 'ne explétif' in formal written French. This ne doesn't make the sentence negative; it just adds a stylistic, elevated touch. So, de peur qu'on ne la vole is perfectly correct, while the sentence above without ne is more typical of everyday spoken French.
Why does la come before vole here?
What is the difference between nom and prénom?