How To Express Doubt And Certainty In French

Have you ever felt like knowing French words, French grammar, and how to put sentences together was not enough in order to have a proper conversation in French? This is because you need to know how to use the language in context and in an appropriate way. This is especially true in French being that there are many different expressions that can actually be used to mean the same thing.

Therefore, in this post, I want to review some of the different ways to express doubt, probability and certainty in French. You’ll then be able to use some alternatives to j’aime bien or je ne sais pas and learn something new!

The first step to this is learning which tenses to use and when. The degree of certainty varies according to the tense of the verbs. L’indicatif expresses certainty, whereas le subjonctif, le future antérieur et le conditionnel express probability.

Certainty

Key words:

• sûrement
• à coup sûr
• assurément
• indubitablement
• sans aucun doute
• sans nul doute
• sans le moindre doute
• de toute évidence
• être sûr
• être convaincu
• il est indubitable que
• il est évident que
• il est incontestable que
• promis juré
• mettre sa main à couper
• mettre sa main au feu
• croix de bois croix de fer si je mens je vais en enfer (expression)
• bien sûr !
• c’est évident/ évidemment

Rule:

When you are sure about something, the indicative mood must be employed because this mood expresses something that actually exists.

Examples:

• Il est français (He is French).
• Il sera là dans une heure (He will be there in one hour).
• Nous avons mis du temps avant d’arriver (We have been slow to arrive).
• Tu avais toujours les plus belles chaussures (We used to always have the most beautiful shoes).

As you can see, the tense (past, present or future) doesn’t matter but the mood does: it must always be indicative!

Doubt

Now, be ready to use a famous and beloved tense: le subjonctif! Although it is difficult to learn, the French use this tense on a daily basis to express actions or ideas that are subjective or otherwise uncertain. These include:

• will/wanting
• emotion
• doubt
• possibility
• necessity
• judgment

The subjonctif is used when the sentence is introduced by que or qui, or by the il faut que sentence structure.

For reference, hypotheticals and possibility are expressed in English using “would,” and sometimes “should” and “could.”

How to express uncertainty:

• peut-être (maybe)
• hypothétquement (hypothetically)
• il se peut que (it may be that)
• il se pourrait que (it may be that (conditional present))

How to express probability:

• certainement (certainly)
• probablement (probably)
• sans doute (without a doubt)
• ceci est discutable (this is questionable)
• il est probable que (it is probable that)
• il est possible que (it is possible that)
• il me semble que (it seems to me that)
• il me paraît que (it appears to me that)

Rule:

The subjonctif mood must be used in order to express what is “supposed,” “imaginable” or “possible.”

Examples:

• Je doute qu’il vienne (I doubt he will come).
• Je ne suis pas sûr qu’il finisse avant 10 heures (I’m not sure he will be finished before 10 o’clock).
• Il est probable qu’il ait du mal à trouver une place de parking (He might have difficulties finding a parking spot).
• Je ne crois pas qu’il puisse arriver pour l’heure du dîner (I don’t think he will be able to be there for dinner).
• Je n’aime pas qu’il conduise quand il pleut (I don’t like that he drives when it rains).
• Il semblerait que des extraterrestres leurs ont rendu visite (It would seem that aliens have visited them).

The verb devoir

Rule:

Devoir can express a number of different meanings related to concepts like obligation and probability. It can be translated into English as “should,” “must,” “ought to,” “have to” and “supposed to.”

Examples (in the case of probability):

• Il doit rentrer avant le dîner (He should / will probably be back before dinner).
• Nous devons gagner plus cette année (We should earn more this year).
• Elle devait être à l'école (She must have been at school).

Have a look at the table below for a reminder on how devoir is conjugated.

Passé compose: j’ai dû

Now it’s your turn to express your opinion about this article! Try to use one of these expressions in your next conversation with your teacher or tutor. Je crois que c’est une bonne idée!

Good luck on your learning journey!

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