Breakdown of Ce n'est pas que j'oublie cet engagement, mais nous devons le décaler.
je
I
mais
but
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
ce
this (before a noun)
devoir
to have to / must
oublier
to forget
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
l'engagement
the commitment (m)
ce n'est pas que
it is not that
décaler
to push back
Questions & Answers about Ce n'est pas que j'oublie cet engagement, mais nous devons le décaler.
Doesn't ce n'est pas que require the subjunctive? Why does j'oublie look like the normal present tense?
It actually is in the subjunctive! For regular -er verbs like oublier, the present subjunctive forms for je, tu, il/elle, and ils/elles look exactly identical to the present indicative. So j'oublie is the correct subjunctive form here.
Could I use non que instead of ce n'est pas que in this sentence?
Yes, you could say Non que j'oublie cet engagement... Both expressions are used to refute a cause and both trigger the subjunctive. However, non que is slightly more formal and literary, whereas ce n'est pas que is standard for everyday conversation.
Is engagement a false friend here? Does it mean getting married?
It is a partial false friend. While it can translate to "engagement" in a political or military sense, in daily French un engagement usually means a "commitment," "moral obligation," or "appointment" (as it does in this sentence). If you want to talk about getting engaged to be married, you need the word les fiançailles.
How exactly is décaler used here?
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