Hi all, I would like to get help with two sentences below (from audio lesson RF7.2): J’espère que je suis encore capable de skier! Ça fait longtemps que je n’ai pas skié. I would like to know why we don't use subjunctive in these sentences (i.e. j'espere que je sois encore capable..., ...que je n'aie pas ...) Thanks a lot. Al

Hi there, although "espère" expresses a strong level of feelings and therefore a level of "subjectivity", it is never followed with the subjunctive mood! "J'espere que tu vas venir" (indicative) However, like other verbs like "croire' and "penser", "esperer" can have the subjunctive mood after when in a negative statement: "je n''espere pas qu'il vienne". Although it sounds a bit far-fetched (how often do we "hope not"????), it is more common in questions: "Esperes-tu qu'il vienne"? Or in the expression using the present participle: "En esperant que tu viennes..." As for "Ça fait longtemps que je n'ai pas skié.", this sentence only has a complement of time (Ça fait longtemps the same as "il y a longtemps")a and therefore there is no strong "feeling" or "subjectivity" involved (there is no real subject either since there is only once person involved "j'ai"!!) so there is no need for the subjunctive. I hope that helps.

Thanks Nathalie. This was helpful.