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What is the capital of Tunisia?

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What is the capital of Tunisia?

Subjunctive or indicative after “je ne suis pas sûr si”

Je ne suis pas sûr si is not idiomatic, if not ungrammatical. The issue is pas sûr and si collide as they both express the uncertainty.

Should you really want to take the risk to start your sentence that way, the mode should be the indicative:

Je ne suis pas sûr s’il a raison.

just like we say:

Je ne sais pas vraiment s’il a raison.

but that will raise eyebrows and comments. I would never use it, just like I would never say the equivalent je doute s’il a raison.

While extremely rare, this form is found once in a while in French, e.g.:

On n’est pas sûr si c’est vivant tout ce qu’on voit.Ode à la Misère, Victor Hugo

Remarque: on n’est pas sûr si l’animal de cette coquille est un mollusque: il appartient peut-être aux annélidesNouveau dictionnaire d’histoire naturelle appliqué aux arts – 1804

J’ai deux ou trois grands-parents juifs, je ne suis pas sûr si c’est deux ou trois.Les camps de la honte, Anne Grynberg – 2013

 

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What is the capital of Tunisia?