dès que

Definition & meaning

dès que is a temporal conjunction used to indicate that an action occurs immediately after another. It translates to "as soon as" or "once" in English.

1. Temporal immediacy: It signifies that the second action follows the first without delay (e.g., "I will call you as soon as I arrive").
2. Condition of completion: It implies that the main clause will happen only once the subordinate action has been completed.

Grammar & Word origin

• Structure: It is a compound expression consisting of the preposition dès (from/starting from) and the conjunction que (that).
• Grammar:
  • It is a subordinating conjunction.
  • In French, when dès que refers to a future action, it must be followed by the future tense (futur simple), even though English uses the present tense in this context (e.g., Dès qu'il arrivera - As soon as he arrives).
  • It is often used with the passé composé to express completed actions in the past (e.g., Dès qu'il a mangé, il est parti - As soon as he ate, he left).

Synonyms & antonyms

Synonyms:

• Aussitôt que [?](vocabuo://word/aussitôt que) : This is the closest synonym, conveying the exact same meaning of immediate sequence.
• Une fois que [?](vocabuo://word/une fois que) : Used when emphasizing that the first action must be finished before the next begins.

Antonyms:

• Tant que [?](vocabuo://word/tant que) : Meaning "as long as," it emphasizes the duration of an action rather than the moment of its completion or initiation.
• Jamais ↗ : In certain negative contexts, it serves as a conceptual opposite by negating the temporal occurrence entirely.