Level B2 (Upper Intermediate)
The French word of the day is the conjunctive phrase à mois que, meaning ‘unless’.
À moins que: Essential French for “Unless”
Quick explanation
À moins que is always followed by the subjunctive mood. For example: ‘Elle viendra, a mois qu’il ne pleuve’ (She will come, unless it rains). The ne is often used with à moins que in formal French when the first clause in the affirmative but does not add negation to the sentence.
À moins que example sentences
Je n’irai pas à la soirée à moins que tu m’accompagnes.
I won’t go to the party unless you go with me.
Je ne pourrai pas finir le projet à moins que j’aie trois jours de plus.
I won’t be able to finish the project unless I have three more hours.
Il ne te donnera pas la voiture à moins que tu demandes gentillement.
I won’t give you the car unless you ask politely.
Continue learning French!
Now that you’ve mastered à moins que, check our lesson covering sauf (except), which includes sauf si, also meaning ‘unless’. Also, today’s example sentences made use of the futur simple tense, which we covered in this lesson.
Recent word of the day lessons | French conjunctions explained
