Paul's question re use of subjunctive

Question

Auparavant, Paul et Cecile connaissent la raison de l'utilisation du subjonctif.  J'ai cherché la bibliothèque de Kwiziq en ce qui concerne le mot meilleur et le subjonctif mais je n'ai rien trouvé.  Est-ce que vous pouvez en élaborer ?

Accepted Answer

Hi Frank, 
You will be pleased to know that we are working on this very lesson so it shouldn't take too long to appear on the site.
In the meantime, see my answer to Shrey -
https://french.kwiziq.com/questions/view/le-subjonctif-with-sentences-using-superlatives
Bonne Continuation !

Answer

Frank, I haven't done the exercise but have had a listen to the whole dictation and the specific sentence under discussion.

The use of the subjunctive is because ' le meilleur roman qui ait jamais été écrit ' is hyperbole. This is obviously extremely subjective, and personally 'unknowable'.

It is not only verbal clauses that require consideration of using the subjunctive. Superlatives that describe 'claims' or 'hypotheses' rather than known (or at least knowable) facts also introduce the need to consider/use the subjunctive.

The clause 'je considère ... (Germinal) comme ' doesn't affect the use or not of the subjunctive, but stands out at the start of the sentence like a bright, flashing red herring that at first glance just seems to suggest (wrongly) "no subjunctive needed" in the following !

This is what Paul acknowledged realising after posting the question, and what Cécile's response refers to.

See attached link from Laura Lawless for more information:

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/superlative-subjunctive/

Answer

Cécile - that answer you linked doesn’t note any exceptions to the rule it states, but they do exist as per the link to Laura Lawless site, and as noted in Larousse also, linked below.

https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/meilleur/50246#difficulte

Answer

Hi Maarten,

I think by exceptions, you mean when the indicative is used instead of the subjunctive with superlatives ?

This will be covered in the lesson.

As Frank was asking about the superlative with 'meilleur', I felt my answer to Shrey ( which I have altered a bit) kept things simple.

Hope you agree.