Fine-Grained Conditionals: dès que, pourvu que, à condition que, au cas où
Fine-Grained Conditionals: dès que, pourvu que, à condition que, au cas où
Four conjunctions look similar to their nearest English glosses — 'as soon as,' 'provided that,' 'on condition that,' 'in case' — but each locks French into a different mood and tense pattern that English doesn't require, so surface similarity can mislead you into using the wrong construction.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
dès que: indicative, and often futur when future-facing
Dès que tu arriveras, appelle-moi. (As soon as you arrive, call me.)
As soon as you arrive, call me.
dès que ('as soon as') takes the indicative, just like English 'as soon as' — good news, the moods match. But the tense differs: when the event is future, both French clauses typically go into the futur simple (dès que tu arriveras...), whereas English uses the present tense in the 'as soon as' clause despite the future meaning ('as soon as you arrive,' not 'as soon as you will arrive'). Carrying over the English present-tense habit and defaulting to the présent here is one of the most common tense-agreement slips at this level.
pourvu que and à condition que: both trigger subjonctif
Pourvu qu'il fasse beau demain ! (I hope it's nice weather tomorrow! / Provided it's nice tomorrow!) / Tu peux sortir, à condition que tu rentres avant minuit. (You can go out, on condition that you're back before midnight.)
I hope it's nice weather tomorrow! / You can go out, on condition that you're back before midnight.
Both introduce a condition and both require the subjunctive in the clause they govern — but English 'provided that' and 'on condition that' take an entirely ordinary clause with no mood marking at all, so nothing in the English translation signals that French needs the subjunctive here. pourvu que has a distinctive double life: as a subordinate conjunction it means 'provided that,' but used alone at the start of an exclamation, it becomes a hopeful wish — Pourvu qu'il fasse beau ! — which does parallel English 'if only it's nice weather!' as an exclamation, a useful anchor for that one use.
au cas où: the exception — it takes the conditionnel, not the subjunctive
Prends un parapluie, au cas où il pleuvrait. (Take an umbrella, in case it rains.)
Take an umbrella, in case it rains.
Despite looking like it belongs in the same 'trigger the subjunctive' family as pourvu que and à condition que, au cas où is the odd one out — it's followed by the conditionnel, never the subjunctive. English 'in case' also takes a perfectly ordinary clause ('in case it rains' — present tense, no special mood), so English gives you no clue either way about which French construction applies. This is a pure memorization point, and reaching for a subjonctif here — a very natural mistake, given the other three conjunctions on this page — is the single most predictable error at this level.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| dès que | deh KUH | as soon as |
| pourvu que | poor-VEW kuh | provided that / let's hope |
| à condition que | ah kohn-dee-SYOHN kuh | on condition that |
| au cas où | oh kah OO | in case |
| à moins que | ah mwan KUH | unless |
| jusqu'à ce que | zhoos-kah suh KUH | until |
| avant que | ah-vahn KUH | before |
| sans que | sahn KUH | without (someone doing/knowing) |