Breakdown of Le chien n'a pas obéi à ton ordre.
le chien
the dog
avoir
to have
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
à
at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)
ton
your (ton, ta, tes)
l'ordre
the command / the order (m)
obéir
to obey
Questions & Answers about Le chien n'a pas obéi à ton ordre.
Why is there an à after obéi? In English we just say 'obeyed your command'.
In French, the verb obéir (to obey) requires the preposition à before the person or thing being obeyed. It acts a bit like saying 'to give obedience to'. You will also see this with other common verbs, like répondre à (to answer) and téléphoner à (to call).
Why are n' and pas wrapped around a instead of obéi?
Why is it ton ordre? Doesn't the word 'ton' depend on who is giving the command?
In French, possessive adjectives like ton (your) match the gender and number of the noun being owned, not the owner. Because ordre is a masculine singular noun, you must use ton. Additionally, even if it were a feminine word, you would still use ton because ordre starts with a vowel, which makes the pronunciation smoother.
Thinking of our current lesson, if I wanted to command the dog, 'Obey it!', would I say Obéis-le?
Good guess, but no! The current lesson covers direct object pronouns like le and la, which are for verbs that do not use à. Because obéir requires à, it takes an indirect object. To say 'Obey it!' (referring to a thing, like an order), you would actually use the pronoun y, making the command Obéis-y.
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