Subjunctive or infinitive

William C.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Subjunctive or infinitive

In all your examples, the two subjects are different. But what happens when they are the same? Can you just use the infintive?

For example

Unless I want to buy something, I only need my house key.

À moins que JE veuille acheter quelque chose, JE n'ai besoin que de ma clé de maison.

À moins de vouloir acheter quelque chose, je n'ai besoin que de ma clé de maison. 

Asked 4 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi William,

Both your sentences are correct.

Bonne continuation!

Diego B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

"À moins que" can only be followed by Subjonctif, regardless of the respective subjects being the same or not.

For reference: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A0_moins_que

I'm not a native French speaker, but this is pretty much the same in Spanish, my native language: "A menos que + subjuntivo". Using any other mood just sounds wrong to me.

William C.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

This is French grammar. French Grammar rules are not identical to Spanish grammar rules! On another website I wrote "À moins que je veuille acheter quelque chose, je n'ai besoin que de ma clé de maison. " and a native French speaker changed it to "À moins de vouloir acheter quelque chose, je n'ai besoin que de ma clé de maison.".  

William C.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Thank you Cecile.

Subjunctive or infinitive

In all your examples, the two subjects are different. But what happens when they are the same? Can you just use the infintive?

For example

Unless I want to buy something, I only need my house key.

À moins que JE veuille acheter quelque chose, JE n'ai besoin que de ma clé de maison.

À moins de vouloir acheter quelque chose, je n'ai besoin que de ma clé de maison. 

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