Breakdown of Vous pouvez protéger la nature si vous recyclez.
vous
you (plural/formal)
pouvoir
to be able to / can
si
if
la nature
the nature
protéger
to protect
recycler
to recycle
Questions & Answers about Vous pouvez protéger la nature si vous recyclez.
Why is it la nature and not just nature like in the English sentence?
In French, you must use a definite article (le, la, les) when talking about general concepts or things as a whole. Because we are talking about nature in general, it translates to la nature.
Why is protéger in its infinitive (unconjugated) form?
When you have two verbs back-to-back, the second verb stays in the infinitive (the dictionary form). Here, the first verb pouvez (can/are able to) is conjugated, so protéger (to protect) stays in its unconjugated form.
How does the word si (if) affect the verbs in this sentence?
It doesn't change the tense here. When stating a general truth or fact, French uses the present tense for both parts of a si (if) sentence: vous pouvez (present) and si vous recyclez (present).
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