Learn French: N'ayez pas peur du compromis. Ne le refusez pas. - Don't be afraid of the compromise. Don't refuse it.

N'ayez pas peur du compromis. Ne le refusez pas.

Don't be afraid of the compromise. Don't refuse it.

Breakdown of N'ayez pas peur du compromis. Ne le refusez pas.

not (used before the verb)

pas

not (used after the verb)

of the / from the (masculine singular, with plural des)

him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)

Questions & Answers about N'ayez pas peur du compromis. Ne le refusez pas.

Why is it N'ayez pas instead of N'avez pas?

This is a command (the imperative mood). The verb avoir (to have) has highly irregular command forms. For vous, it becomes ayez. So N'ayez pas peur means 'Don't be afraid' (literally: 'Don't have fear').

Why is it du compromis and not just de compromis?

The French expression is avoir peur de (to be afraid of). Because we are talking about a specific thing, 'the compromise' (le compromis), we have to combine de + le, which always contracts to du.

Why does le come before the verb in Ne le refusez pas? I thought pronouns came after the verb in commands.

You are thinking of positive commands, where the pronoun attaches to the end of the verb with a hyphen (like Refusez-le). In negative commands, however, the pronoun goes back to its normal spot right before the verb: Ne le refusez pas.