Breakdown of Nous doutons que la baignoire soit assez grande, alors nous irons la revoir demain.
Questions & Answers about Nous doutons que la baignoire soit assez grande, alors nous irons la revoir demain.
Why is it soit and not est after nous doutons que?
Because douter que normally triggers the subjunctive in French.
- être in the present subjunctive for il/elle/on is soit
- So la baignoire soit assez grande means that the bathtub be big enough
French uses the subjunctive after expressions of doubt, uncertainty, emotion, necessity, and similar ideas. Since nous doutons que... expresses doubt, soit is the expected form.
If you said la baignoire est assez grande, that would sound like a straightforward statement of fact, not something uncertain.
How do I know soit is from the verb être?
Why is it grande with an -e at the end?
Because grande agrees with la baignoire, which is a feminine singular noun.
- masculine singular: grand
- feminine singular: grande
Since baignoire is feminine, the adjective must also be feminine:
- la baignoire est grande
- la baignoire soit assez grande
This agreement happens whether the verb is in the indicative or the subjunctive.
What does assez do in assez grande?
Why is there a la in nous irons la revoir?
Why does the pronoun come before revoir in la revoir?
Because the pronoun is the object of the infinitive revoir.
In French, object pronouns usually go directly before the verb they belong to. Since the action is revoir the bathtub, the pronoun goes before revoir:
- revoir la baignoire
- la revoir
And because irons is followed by an infinitive, the pronoun stays attached to that infinitive idea:
This is similar to:
- Je veux le voir.
- Nous allons les acheter.
What exactly does revoir mean here?
Why is it nous irons instead of something like nous allons?
Nous irons is the simple future of aller and means we will go.
French has more than one way to talk about the future:
- nous irons = simple future
- nous allons aller or more naturally nous allons la revoir = near future
Here, nous irons la revoir demain is a normal, natural way to say that tomorrow they will go back to see it again. It sounds a bit more straightforward and written than the near future, but both can work depending on context.
What does alors mean in this sentence?
Could French repeat la baignoire instead of using la?
Yes, absolutely.
You could say: Nous doutons que la baignoire soit assez grande, alors nous irons revoir la baignoire demain.
That is grammatically correct, but it sounds repetitive. French, like English, usually prefers a pronoun once the thing has already been mentioned.
So nous irons la revoir demain is more natural.
Is douter que always followed by the subjunctive?
In standard French, yes, usually.
Examples:
The reason is that douter que expresses uncertainty.
One thing to watch out for is the negative:
- Je ne doute pas qu’il viendra is common
- Je ne doute pas qu’il vienne also exists, especially in more formal or careful French
So with plain douter que, you should strongly expect the subjunctive.
Why is the sentence not Nous doutons si la baignoire est assez grande?
Because French uses douter que, not douter si, for this structure.
English often says We doubt whether... or We doubt that..., but French normally uses:
- douter que + subjunctive
So the natural French pattern is:
- Nous doutons que la baignoire soit assez grande.
Using si here would not be the normal structure.
What is the basic structure of the whole sentence?
The sentence has two main parts joined by alors:
Nous doutons que la baignoire soit assez grande
- main clause: Nous doutons
- subordinate clause: que la baignoire soit assez grande
alors nous irons la revoir demain
- alors links the result or consequence
- main clause: nous irons
- infinitive phrase: la revoir
- time expression: demain
So the overall pattern is:
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