If you have ever wondered why is it sometimes jusque other times jusqu’à, and sometimes even jusqu’à ce que.
To express until or till in French, you can use different variants of jusque, but first you need to know when and how.
Follow along to learn the subtle differences.
Common Mistake in French : jusqu’à ce que vs jusqu’à vs jusque
These similar adverbs are oftentimes confused. Although it may look the same, ( and mean the same), they are used in different sentence structures.
- jusqu’à ce que is used with a subordinate
Je lirai jusqu’à ce que je tombe de sommeil.
I’ll read until I fall asleep.
- jusqu’à is used with a noun or verb in the infinitive
J’ai regardé ce film jusqu’à la fin / J’ai lu jusqu’à tomber de sommeil.
I watched the movie until the end / I read until falling asleep.
- jusque is used with a complement or an adverb, and if the following word begins with a vowel or a silent “h”.
Ils ont mis des caméras jusque dans les toilettes / J’irai jusque là / Ça pue jusqu‘ici
They put cameras even in the lavatories / I’ll go up to that point / It stinks up to here
Using Subjunctif with jusqu’à ce que
When a sentence includes jusqu’à ce que, it must be followed by a subjunctive subject and verb. This is a subordinate conjunction that should be retained. In some cases, these conjunctions are followed by the subjunctive, while in others they are preceded by the indicative. Jusqu’à means until, but if you want it accompanied by a noun, you need the conjunction jusqu’à ce que.
To express until [someone] does … in French, you use:
L’infection reste détectable jusqu’à ce que le patient reçoive un traitement adéquat.
The infection remains detectable until the patient receives adequate treatment.
L’opération sera retentée jusqu’à ce que la demande réussit.
The operation will be retried until the request succeeds.
Ma mère me chantait des chansons jusqu’à ce que je m’endorme.
My mother used to sing to me until I fell asleep.
Read more How to Avoid Top 5 Common French Mistakes
Until the End of ( this Lesson)
Keep in mind that the use of jusque, jusqu’à or jusqu’à ce que depends on the sentence structure. You’ll use jusque with a complement or an adverb, jusqu’à is used with a noun or verb in the infinitive, and jusqu’à ce que is used with a subordinate. Another thing to keep in mind is using subjunctive mode alogside jusqu’à ce que.
We hope that this lesson helped you finally leaves all the ambiguities behind.