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Je pense que notre société doit protéger l'environnement contre la pollution.

Je pense que notre société doit protéger l'environnement contre la pollution.
I think that our society must protect the environment against pollution.
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Questions & Answers about Je pense que notre société doit protéger l'environnement contre la pollution.

Why is it Je pense que and not Je pense notre société doit protéger…?

In French, when penser introduces a full idea (a clause with a subject and verb), it normally takes que:

  • Je pense que notre société doit protéger… = I think (that) our society must protect…

Without que, penser is followed by a noun or pronoun, not a whole sentence:

  • Je pense ça. = I think that.
  • Je pense à notre société. = I’m thinking about our society.

So Je pense notre société doit… is not correct French; you need que before the clause.

Does Je pense que require the subjunctive after it? Why is it doit protéger and not a subjunctive form?

Affirmative penser que usually takes the indicative, not the subjunctive, because it expresses a belief or opinion the speaker considers real or likely:

  • Je pense que notre société doit protéger… → doit (indicative)

You normally use the subjunctive after penser que when the verb is negative or interrogative and there is real doubt:

  • Je ne pense pas que notre société doive protéger…
  • Penses-tu que notre société doive protéger… ?

Here the sentence is a straightforward opinion, not doubted or questioned, so indicative (doit) is correct.

What is the difference between doit and devrait in this sentence?

Both come from devoir, but the meaning changes:

  • doit protéger = must protect / has to protect
    • Stronger obligation or necessity.
  • devrait protéger = should protect / ought to protect
    • Recommendation, moral duty, less absolute.

So:

  • Notre société doit protéger l’environnement…
    → Our society must protect the environment…
  • Notre société devrait protéger l’environnement…
    → Our society should protect the environment…

The original sentence is stronger and more categorical.

What exactly does notre société mean? Is it “our society” or “our company”?

Société can mean both, depending on context:

  1. Society (the community / nation, people as a whole)
    • notre société = our society (the way our society functions)
  2. Company / firm in a business context
    • une société de transport = a transport company

In this sentence, because it talks about protecting the environment from pollution, notre société is most naturally read as our (human) society or our modern society in general, not a particular business.

If you clearly mean a company, notre entreprise is usually clearer.

Why is it doit protéger and not doit à protéger or something similar?

French devoir works like an English modal verb (must / have to) and is followed directly by an infinitive, with no preposition:

  • Elle doit partir. = She must leave.
  • Nous devons travailler. = We must work.
  • Notre société doit protéger l’environnement. = Our society must protect the environment.

Adding à (doit à protéger) would be wrong here.

Why do we say protéger l’environnement contre la pollution and not de la pollution?

With protéger, French generally uses:

  • protéger [quelque chose] contre [quelque chose]
    • protéger l’environnement contre la pollution
    • protéger les enfants contre les dangers d’Internet

Contre emphasizes protection against an attacking or harmful force.

De can sometimes appear after protéger, but it’s less about opposition and more about preventing or removing something:

  • protéger quelqu’un de la pluie
  • protéger une maison des inondations

Here, pollution is treated like a harmful threat to the environment, so contre is the natural choice.

Why is it l’environnement and not le environnement?

Environnement is masculine, so its normal article is le:

  • le livre, le chien, le problème, le environnement (in theory)

But French uses elision: when le or la comes before a word starting with a vowel or silent h, the vowel of the article is dropped and replaced by an apostrophe:

  • le
    • environnement → l’environnement
  • la
    • école → l’école
  • le
    • homme → l’homme

So l’environnement is just the elided form of le environnement.

Why is it la pollution and not just pollution, without the article?

French uses definite articles much more than English. When speaking in general about a concept, French often uses la / le / les, where English drops the article:

  • La pollution est un problème. = Pollution is a problem.
  • L’environnement est important. = The environment is important.

In protéger l’environnement contre la pollution, both l’environnement and la pollution refer to those ideas in general, not a specific instance. French still prefers the definite articles here.

Saying just protéger environnement contre pollution would be ungrammatical.

Why is it notre and not nos in notre société?
  • notre is used with singular nouns (masculine or feminine):
    • notre société (one society)
    • notre maison (one house)
  • nos is used with plural nouns:
    • nos sociétés (our societies / our companies)
    • nos maisons (our houses)

Since société is singular here, notre is the correct possessive.

Can the word order change? Could I say Je pense que doit protéger notre société l’environnement contre la pollution?

No. French is quite strict about basic word order: Subject – Verb – Object.

Correct:

  • Je pense que notre société doit protéger l’environnement contre la pollution.
    • Subject: notre société
    • Verb: doit protéger
    • Object: l’environnement

Putting doit protéger before notre société, or moving l’environnement to the end as in your example, would sound ungrammatical or very strange in standard French. In normal statements, keep the straightforward S–V–O order.

What is the difference between Je pense que, Je crois que, and À mon avis?

All three introduce an opinion, but their feel is slightly different:

  • Je pense que…
    • Neutral, common: I think that…
  • Je crois que…
    • Very close to Je pense que, often interchangeable. Sometimes a bit more about belief than reasoning, but in everyday speech they’re near-synonyms.
  • À mon avis, …
    • Literally In my opinion…
    • Slightly more formal or explicit about “this is just my view”. It doesn’t take que after it if followed directly by a clause:
      • À mon avis, notre société doit protéger l’environnement.

You could replace Je pense que in this sentence with either Je crois que or À mon avis without changing the meaning much.

Could I simply say Notre société doit protéger l’environnement contre la pollution without Je pense que?

Yes.

  • Notre société doit protéger l’environnement contre la pollution.

    • Sounds like a firm statement or assertion.

  • Je pense que notre société doit protéger l’environnement contre la pollution.

    • Clearly marked as your personal opinion.

Both are grammatically correct; it’s just a matter of how directly you want to state the idea.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence, and are there any liaisons or silent letters I should know about?

Approximate IPA:

  • Je pense que notre société doit protéger l’environnement contre la pollution.
    • /ʒə pɑ̃s kə nɔtʁə sɔsje.te dwa t‿pʁɔteʒe lɑ̃viʁɔnəmɑ̃ kɔ̃tʁ la pɔlysjɔ̃/

Key points:

  • Je → /ʒə/
  • pense → /pɑ̃s/ (final -e is silent; nasal an /ɑ̃/)
  • que → /kə/
  • notre → /nɔtʁ(ə)/ (often /nɔtʁ/ in fluent speech)
  • société → /sɔsje.te/ (final -é is /e/)
  • doit → /dwa/ (final -t is usually silent but may link in liaison)
  • protéger → /pʁɔteʒe/ (final -er here is /e/)
  • l’environnement → /lɑ̃viʁɔnəmɑ̃/ (nasal en /ɑ̃/)
  • contre → /kɔ̃tʁ/ (final -e silent)
  • la → /la/
  • pollution → /pɔlysjɔ̃/

Important liaison:

  • Between doit and protéger you will often hear liaison in careful speech:
    • doit protéger → /dwa t‿pʁɔteʒe/ (a /t/ sound linking the words).