Prévoyions

Prévoyions is the first-person plural present subjunctive form of the French verb prévoir, which means to foresee or anticipate. The form is used in clauses introduced by que to express doubt, possibility, obligation, or a hypothetical or desired action in the present.

Formation and forms: Prévoir is an irregular verb with a stem change in the present subjunctive. The full present subjunctive paradigm is: que je prévoie, que tu prévoies, qu’il prévoie, que nous prévoyions, que vous prévoyiez, qu’ils prévoient. The nous form, prév o y ions, is written prévoyions with the acute accent on the é. This form stands alongside other subjunctive forms that signal non-reality or subjectivity in dependent clauses.

Usage: The subjunctive in French is commonly used after verbs of necessity, desire, doubt, or emotion when the action is not asserted as a fact. Prévoyions appears in formal or literary contexts and is less common in everyday speech, where speakers may replace the subjunctive with indicative constructions or alternative phrasings. Example: Il faut que nous prévoyions des mesures pour l’hiver. Bien que cela semble tardif, il est possible que nous prévoyions des retards. In these cases, the nous form collaborates with a subjunctive clause to convey contingency or expectation.

Etymology: Prévoir derives from Latin providere, with the sense of “seeing ahead” or providing for future needs, which is preserved in the modern meaning and its subjunctive forms.

See also: Prévoir, Subjonctif présent, French grammar.