96 L'humour adoucit les mœurs

Sentence Breakdown

Sentence with subjunctive form

Un film, on peut le voir et puis le revoir à l’infini, sans qu’il perde sa fraîcheur.

• “Un film,” → Subject of the sentence. It refers to a movie in general.
• “on peut le voir” → Main clause. “On” (impersonal pronoun) means “one” or “we” in a general sense. “Peut” means “can,” and “le voir” means “watch it.”
• “et puis le revoir à l’infini,” → “Et puis” means “and then,” indicating continuity. “Le revoir” means “watch it again,” and “à l’infini” means “endlessly” or “infinitely,” suggesting that this can be repeated without limit.
• “sans qu’il perde sa fraîcheur” → A subordinate clause introduced by “sans que” (meaning “without”). “Il” refers to the movie, “perde” (subjunctive form of “perdre”) means “loses,” and “sa fraîcheur” means “its freshness” or “original appeal.”

Sentence without subjunctive form

Mais une histoire drôle, une plaisanterie, une boutade - appelez-la comme vous voudrez - est périmée dès qu’on l’entend et ne supporte pas la répétition.

• “Mais une histoire drôle, une plaisanterie, une boutade” → The subject of the sentence. It refers to a joke, a witticism, or a humorous story.
• “appelez-la comme vous voudrez” → A parenthetical clause meaning “call it whatever you like.” “La” refers to the joke, and “comme vous voudrez” means “as you wish.”
• “est périmée dès qu’on l’entend” → The main clause. “Est périmée” (from “périmer”) means “is expired” or “becomes outdated.” “Dès qu’on l’entend” means “as soon as one hears it,” implying that a joke loses its freshness immediately after being told.
• “et ne supporte pas la répétition” → “Et” (and) introduces another idea. “Ne supporte pas” means “does not tolerate” or “cannot handle,” and “la répétition” means “repetition,” meaning a joke doesn’t work if it’s repeated.

Why no subjunctive

The phrase “dès qu’on l’entend” (as soon as one hears it) does not require the subjunctive because “dès que” (as soon as) introduces a factual, concrete event rather than something hypothetical or uncertain.

Rule:

The subjunctive is generally used after conjunctions that express doubt, uncertainty, necessity, emotion, or possibility (e.g., avant que, bien que, pour que).
However, “dès que” (as soon as) expresses a real-time occurrence, so it takes the indicative, which is used for facts and statements of certainty.

Example Comparisons:

✅ Indicative (certainty, fact):

• Dès qu’on l’entend, elle est périmée. → As soon as one hears it, it is outdated. (Fact: the joke becomes stale immediately.)
• Je t’appellerai dès que j’arriverai. → I will call you as soon as I arrive. (A future fact, but still certain.)

🚫 Subjunctive (incorrect in this case):

• Dès qu’on l’entende ❌ (Incorrect because hearing the joke is not uncertain; it’s a concrete event.)

However, if you used “avant que” (before), you would need the subjunctive:

• Avant qu’on ne l’entende, elle est encore drôle. → Before one hears it, it is still funny.

So, in short: “dès que” takes the indicative because it refers to something real and certain, not hypothetical or uncertain.

Suffix "-esse"

The suffix "-esse" in French is used to form feminine nouns, either from masculine nouns or adjectives. It often conveys a sense of femininity, abstract qualities, or states.

Common Uses of “-esse”

1. Feminine Forms of Masculine Nouns

   • Prince → Princesse (prince → princess)
   • Maître → Maîtresse (master → mistress)
   • Tigre → Tigresse (tiger → tigress)
   • Dieu → Déesse (god → goddess)

2. Abstract Nouns from Adjectives (States or Qualities)

   • Riche → Richesse (rich → wealth)
   • Sage → Sagesse (wise → wisdom)
   • Vieux → Vieillesse (old → old age)
   • Tendre → Tendresse (soft, tender, gentle → tenderness, affection, gentleness)
   • Gentil → Gentillesse (kind → kindness)

3. Special Cases with Unique Meanings

   • Gros → Grossesse (big → pregnancy) → Not “bigness,” but a state of being big
   • Poli → Politesse (polite → politeness)

This suffix is similar to "-ness" in English (kind → kindness, rich → richness), making abstract concepts from adjectives.

Prefix “a-”

In French, the prefix “a-” (or “ad-” before a vowel) is added to nouns, adjectives, and verbs to convey movement towards a particular state or being. This prefix often indicates a change or transformation, emphasizing the process of becoming or approaching a certain condition.

Examples

1. Affoler (to panic): From “fou” (crazy), the prefix “a-” transforms it into a verb meaning “to drive crazy” or “to cause panic”.

2. Adoucir (to soften): From “doux” (soft), “a-” creates a verb meaning “to make softer” or “to smooth”.

3. Alléger (to lighten): From “léger” (light), “a-” forms a verb meaning “to make lighter” or “to ease”.

Additional examples:

• Agrandir (to enlarge): From “grand” (big)
• Appauvrir (to impoverish): From “pauvre” (poor)
• Affaiblir (to weaken): From “faible” (weak)
• Aplatir (to flatten): From “plat” (flat)
• Améliorer (to improve): From “meilleur” (better)

Examples from the text

• L’humour adoucit les mœurs et allège notre quotidien grisâtre je te - je vous - le garantis.

Vocabulaire