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J'ai beau utiliser cette canne à pêche, le poisson ne mord pas.

J'ai beau utiliser cette canne à pêche, le poisson ne mord pas.
I use this fishing rod in vain, the fish are not biting.
From Lesson 224:Doing something in vain (avoir beau)·French

Questions & Answers about J'ai beau utiliser cette canne à pêche, le poisson ne mord pas.

How does the structure avoir beau work in this sentence?
The expression avoir beau is always conjugated (here as J'ai beau) and followed directly by an infinitive verb (here, utiliser). It means doing an action without getting the desired result. You can translate it as doing something in vain, or by saying no matter how much I use this fishing rod, the fish are not biting.
Why do we use à in cette canne à pêche instead of de?
The preposition à is often used in French to describe an object's purpose or what it is designed for. A canne (rod or cane) designed for pêche (fishing) becomes une canne à pêche. You also see this in everyday words like une brosse à dents (a toothbrush) or un verre à vin (a wine glass).
The English translation says the fish are not biting (plural). Why is le poisson singular here?
When talking about catching fish in general, French uses the singular le poisson to refer to them as a collective group or resource. You are not talking about one specific fish, but rather the fish in the water as a whole.
Does the verb mordre only apply to fishing?
No, mordre is the standard French verb for to bite. Just like in English, it can be used for a dog biting a person, you biting into an apple, or a fish biting the bait on your canne à pêche.

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