Written French: Making transitions and written correspondence
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Expressing certainty or uncertainty
You may begin a sentence with one of many impersonal expressions that help convey varying
degrees of certainty or uncertainty. Remember that expressions that convey uncertainty must be
followed by a verb in the subjunctive mood. (See Chapter 20.) The following expressions are fre-
quently used in French. Note the use of transitional words in the short paragraph following these
expressions:
FOLLOWED BY INDICATIVE MOOD
FOLLOWED BY SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD
Il est certain que
It is certain that
Il n’est pas certain que
It is not certain that
Il est évident que
It is evident that
Il est possible que
It is possible that
Il est probable que It is probable that
Il est peu probable que
It is improbable that
Il va de soi que
It is self-evident that
Il est contestable que
It is questionable/
debatable that
Ce n’est pas clair. Il est contestable qu’il ait It is not clear. It is questionable that he won.
gagné. Quelle surprise! Il est certain
What a surprise! It is certain that we
qu’on ne peut pas tout prévoir. Mais quel
cannot predict everything. But what a
mensonge! Il est évident que la vérité est lie! It is evident that truth is rare.
rare. Il est si têtu. Il n’est pas certain
He is so stubborn. It is not certain
qu’on puisse raisonner avec lui. Il n’écoute
that we can reason with him. He does
pas. Il est peu probable qu’il fasse ce
not listen. He is not likely to do what
qu’on lui demande.
they ask.
Illustrating a point
You may begin a sentence with one of the following terms when you are ready to give evidence for
the point you are making. Note the use of transitional words in the short paragraph following
these expressions:
Notamment
Notably/In particular
Par exemple
For example
On peut préciser que
Let us point out that/
One should point out that
On peut souligner que
Let us stress that
Il avait des raisons très claires pour
He had very clear reasons to commit the felony.
commettre le délit. On peut préciser
One should point out that he had thought
qu’il y avait beaucoup réfléchi. Mais il
about it a lot. But he made several mistakes.
a fait plusieurs erreurs. Par exemple,
For example, last month he forgot to pay
le mois dernier, il a oublié de payer une
a bill. And he had a record: he had been
facture. Et il avait un dossier: il avait été incarcerated several times, in particular
emprisonné plusieurs fois, notamment
last year.
l’an dernier.
Giving a reason
Except for comme, which must begin a sentence in order to mean as/since, you may use the fol-
lowing terms to begin or develop a sentence when you want to explain why. Note the use of tran-
sitional words in the short paragraph following these expressions:
À cause de
Because of
Comme
As/
Since
Étant donné que, vu que
Given that
Parce que
Because
Puisque
Since
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practice makes perfect Complete French All-in-One
À cause de l’examen ce matin, Mireille était
Because of the exam this morning, Mireille
pressée. Étant donné qu’elle était en retard,
was in a hurry. Given that she was late,
elle a décidé de prendre la voiture de sa
she decided to take her sister’s car. Since
sœur. Comme elle en avait besoin tout de
she needed it immediately, she took it
suite, elle l’a prise sans demander. Ce n’était
without asking. It was not nice,
pas sympa parce que la sœur de Mireille a
because Mireille’s sister got very scared
eu très peur quand elle n’a pas vu sa voiture.
when she did not see her car.
Stating a consequence
You may use the following terms when you want to show consequences. Note the use of transi-
tional words in the short paragraph following these expressions:
Ainsi
Thus
C’est pour cette raison que
It is for this reason that
C’est pourquoi
That is why
Donc
So/
Thus
Par conséquent
Consequently
Voilà pourquoi
That is why
L’économie n’est pas très bonne. Ainsi Jacques
The economy is not very good. Thus Jacques
a perdu son travail. Voilà pourquoi il en
lost his job. That’s why he is looking
cherche un autre. C’est aussi pour cette
for another. It is also for this reason that
raison qu’il regarde les petites annonces chaque that he looks at ads every day. He has an
jour. Il a rendez-vous chez un employeur
appointment with an employer tomorrow.
demain. Donc il faut qu’il prépare son CV.
So he has to prepare his résumé.
Stating a contrast
There are many expressions that help compare and contrast. Here are a few common ones. Note
the use of transitional words in the short paragraph following these expressions:
Au contraire
On the contrary
Mais
But
Cependant
However
Malgré
Despite
D’une part
On one hand
Même si
Even though/
Even if
D’autre part, par contre On the other hand
Pourtant
Yet
En dépit de
In spite of
Le jeune homme était vendeur dans un grand
The young man was a salesman in a
magasin. Malgré le fait qu’il gagnait bien
department store. Despite the fact that
sa vie, il désirait faire des études de kinésit-
he earned a good living, he wanted to
hérapeute. Il était très bon en anatomie même become a physical therapist. He was good
s’il n’avait pas poursuivi ses études.
D’autre
in anatomy even if he had not pursued
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