12.11.1 Conjunctions of wish, desire and intention
12.11.1.1 de manière
que = in a way, so that
Je lui ai dit ce
qu' il voulait entendre de
manière qu' il soit content.
I told him what he wanted to hear, so that he be content.
Already in chapter 8 we have seen conjunctions meaning so
that. Here it seems useful to discuss the difference between the ones in chapter 8 and the ones here with subjonctif. The difference is that with indicativ situations are described that are not consequence of an intention. With subjonctif the intention to achieve something is stressed. Please see the examples.
no intention to achieve something => with indicatif: en
conséquence = so that, therefore
Il n' est pas venu
et en conséquence
il n' a pas reçu son argent.
He did not come, so that he did not get his money.
intention to achieve something => with subjonctif: de manière que = so that, in a way that
Je lui ai dit ce
qu' il voulait entendre de
manière qu' il soit content.
I told him what he wanted to hear so that he be content.*
* Also in English one can use the (seldomly used) subjunctive.
This also means, depending on the conjunction also the same sentence can have two different meanings:
Il a fait beaucoup de sport de manière qu' il reste en forme.
He does a lot of sports so that (unintentionally/automatically) he stays in form.
Il fait beaucoup de sport de manière qu' il soit en forme.
He does a lot of sports so that (by intention) he stays in form.
The following conjunctions are of the same kind.
de sorte que = so that
(with indicatif)
Il a fait ce qu'
on lui a demandé de
sorte que personne ne peut lui adresser le moindre reproche.
He has done what he was asked to do so that nobody can complain.
de sorte que = to (with
subjonctif)
Il a fait ce qu'
on lui a demandé de
sorte que personne ne puisse lui adresser le moindre reproche.
He has done what he was asked to do to (actively) avoid that someone could complain.
aussi ... que = as ... as
(with indicatif)
Elle est aussi
belle qu'
elle est infidèle.
She is as beautiful as unfaithful.
aussi ... que = as may (with subjonctif)
Cette femme, aussi
belle
soit-elle, dépasse les limites
du permis.
This woman, as beautiful she might by, passes the limits of the allowed.
