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If I were to translate a sentence like "I only want you to feel comfortable" from what I know I would say «Je ne veux que que tu sois à l'aise". Do French people actually double the «que», does the sentence even make sense, how would I say it to make it feel natural?

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    I've heard native speakers use this "que que" in oral speech, but it made other native speakers in the room frown and look at them weird.
    – Stef
    Aug 24, 2021 at 20:57

1 Answer 1

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As @jlliagre said in their comment I made a mistake in my answer. Corrected.


What you suggest (using ne...que followed by a subordinate clause introduced with que) is not possible.

You could:
— Use the restrictive ne...que followed by a noun:

  • Je ne veux que ton bien-être.

— Use an adverb instead of the restrictive ne...que and then have a subordinate clause:

  • a- Je veux simplement que tu sois à l'aise.
  • b- Je veux seulement que tu sois à l'aise.
    Option b- could be ambiguous since seulement could be understood as your not wanting anything else.

— Replace the restrictive ne...que with tout ce que:

  • Tout ce que je veux c'est que tu sois à l'aise.
  • Tout ce que je veux c'est ton bien-être.
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    +1 but I would avoid the anglicism être confortable and keep the OP être à l'aise better translation.
    – jlliagre
    Aug 24, 2021 at 12:36
  • @jlliagre Quite right. Thanks. (I was focused on the rest and just didn't pay attention - awful!). I'll ping them.
    – None
    Aug 24, 2021 at 12:41
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    @Quippy Please see jlliagre's comment. Of course confortable is not acceptable here. Sorry.
    – None
    Aug 24, 2021 at 12:52

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