Gap-fill
Quitte à: “even if it means…” in French
Use quitte à with an infinitive to accept a possible cost. Follow an editing decision through eight gaps and compare a trade-off with a condition.
- B2
- 8 gaps
- Translation included
- Learn this in the B2 notebook →
In short
Quitte à + infinitive means “even if it means…” or “at the risk of…”. Je préfère vérifier, quitte à perdre quelques minutes says that I accept spending a few extra minutes to check. The cost is a possibility I am willing to accept.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
quitte à attendreeven if it means waiting
Focus: I keep my plan and accept a possible downside.
Je viendrai, quitte à attendre un peu.
I’ll come, even if it means waiting a little.
à condition de finir tôton condition that I finish early
Focus: I make my plan dependent on a requirement.
Je viendrai à condition de finir tôt.
I’ll come on condition that I finish early.
| Chosen action | Accepted possible cost |
|---|---|
| Je pose la question. | quitte à paraître mal informé |
| Nous gardons cette explication. | quitte à raccourcir l’introduction |
| Elle continue ses recherches. | quitte à reporter la publication |
The person doing the main action also carries out the infinitive in these examples. In je pose la question, quitte à paraître mal informé, the speaker accepts seeming poorly informed. A woman would say mal informée. The expression quitte à itself stays fixed.
Quitte à recommencer, autant le faire correctement.
If we’re going to start again, we might as well do it properly.
An opening quitte à… autant… can mean “if we’re going to do it anyway, we might as well…”. In the gap-fill, each quitte à names an accepted cost.
What does quitte à mean?
Nora and Paul are revising an article. Turn the conjugated verb in each cue back into its infinitive after quitte à. Each person keeps a chosen action while accepting an extra task, a delay or a possible reaction.
Une dernière relecture
Nora veut expliquer le problème clairement, quitte à (nous dépassons) la longueur prévue. Paul est d’accord : « Gardons cet exemple, quitte à (nous raccourcissons) l’introduction. »
Une phrase reste difficile. Nora préfère la réécrire, quitte à (elle perd) quelques minutes. Paul veut vérifier les chiffres, quitte à (il refait) le calcul. Ils tiennent à publier un texte clair, quitte à (ils reportent) la publication.
Il manque encore une réponse. « Je vais demander une précision, quitte à (je parais) trop insistante », dit Nora. Paul propose une dernière lecture : « Vérifions ensemble, quitte à (nous finissons) plus tard. » Nora accepte de tout reprendre, quitte à (elle recommence) demain.
Read it in English
Nora wants to explain the problem clearly, even if it means going over the planned length. Paul agrees: “Let’s keep this example, even if it means shortening the introduction.”
One sentence is still difficult. Nora prefers to rewrite it, even if it means losing a few minutes. Paul wants to check the figures, even if it means doing the calculation again. They want to publish a clear text, even if it means postponing publication.
One answer is still missing. “I’ll ask for clarification, even at the risk of seeming too insistent,” says Nora. Paul suggests one final read: “Let’s check together, even if it means finishing later.” Nora agrees to go through everything again, even if it means starting again tomorrow.