Fine-Grained Conditionals: dès que, pourvu que, à condition que, au cas où
सूक्ष्म भेद वाले सशर्त वाक्य: dès que, pourvu que, à condition que, au cas où
Hindi's जैसे ही ('as soon as') and बशर्ते कि ('provided that') pattern very closely with their French counterparts — both pull in a future or subjunctive verb the same way French does. But French's au cas où breaks its own pattern by taking the conditionnel instead of the subjonctif — and Hindi doesn't make this same exception, so watch for the one place French deliberately zigs where your Hindi instinct would expect it to zag.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
dès que: indicative, and often futur when future-facing — Hindi's जैसे ही matches French here, not English
Dès que tu arriveras, appelle-moi. (As soon as you arrive, call me.)
जैसे ही तुम पहुँचोगे, मुझे फ़ोन करना।
dès que ('as soon as') takes the indicative. When the event is future, both French clauses typically go into the futur simple (dès que tu arriveras...). Hindi does the identical thing: जैसे ही तुम पहुँचोगे uses पहुँचोगे, the future tense, exactly matching French's choice — this is actually a point where Hindi is a better guide than English, since 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'). Trust your Hindi instinct here rather than any English habit you might also be carrying.
pourvu que and à condition que: both trigger subjonctif — Hindi's बशर्ते कि pulls in its own subjunctive the same way
Pourvu qu'il fasse beau demain ! (I hope it's nice weather tomorrow!) / Tu peux sortir, à condition que tu rentres avant minuit. (You can go out, on condition that you're back before midnight.)
काश कल मौसम अच्छा हो! / तुम बाहर जा सकते हो, बशर्ते कि तुम आधी रात से पहले लौट आओ।
Both pourvu que and à condition que introduce a condition and both require the subjunctive in the clause they govern. Hindi's बशर्ते कि does the identical job, pulling in Hindi's own subjunctive: लौट आओ, not the ordinary indicative लौटते हो — so this trigger transfers cleanly from an existing Hindi habit. 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 ! — directly paralleled by Hindi's काश + subjunctive, काश मौसम अच्छा हो! ('if only the weather were nice!'), a construction you likely already know.
au cas où: the exception — it takes the conditionnel, not the subjunctive, breaking a pattern Hindi doesn't break
Prends un parapluie, au cas où il pleuvrait. (Take an umbrella, in case it rains.)
छाता ले लो, कहीं बारिश हो जाए (तो)।
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 in French — it's followed by the conditionnel, never the subjunctive. Hindi doesn't make this same exception: its own 'in case' construction, कहीं...हो जाए, keeps the subjunctive-like participle + हो pattern you'd expect, consistent with बशर्ते कि rather than breaking from it. This means the trap here is sharper coming from Hindi than from English: Hindi actively primes you to expect a subjunctive-family form in exactly the spot where French switches to the conditionnel instead — a pure memorization point, and the single most predictable error at this level.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
- Hindi
- जैसे हीjaise hī
- English
- as soon as
- Hindi
- बशर्ते कि/काशbaśarte ki/kāś
- English
- provided that / let's hope
- Hindi
- इस शर्त पर किis śart par ki
- English
- on condition that
- Hindi
- कहीं ऐसा हो किkahīñ aisā ho ki
- English
- in case
- Hindi
- जब तक कि...नjab tak ki...na
- English
- unless
- Hindi
- जब तकjab tak
- English
- until
- Hindi
- इससे पहले किisse pahle ki
- English
- before
- Hindi
- बिना इसके किbinā iske ki
- English
- without (someone doing/knowing)