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N'y renonce pas jusqu'à ce que tu comprennes le mécanisme !

N'y renonce pas jusqu'à ce que tu comprennes le mécanisme !
Do not give up on it until you understand the mechanism!
From Lesson 236:The pronoun 'y' with verbs (y)·French

Questions & Answers about N'y renonce pas jusqu'à ce que tu comprennes le mécanisme !

Why is y used here, and what does it mean?
The verb renoncer (to give up / to renounce) requires the preposition à when you give up on something (e.g., renoncer à ce projet). The pronoun y replaces à plus an inanimate thing or idea. Therefore, n'y renonce pas translates to "do not give up on it."
Why is y placed before the verb instead of attached to the end?
In affirmative commands, object pronouns attach to the end of the verb with a hyphen (for example, renonces-y !). However, in negative commands, the pronoun goes back to its normal position right before the verb, sandwiched inside the ne ... pas structure. This gives us N'y renonce pas !
Why doesn't renonce end in an "s" if it's conjugated for tu?
For regular -er verbs, the tu form of the imperative drops the final "s". The only time you add the "s" back is for pronunciation in an affirmative command when the verb is immediately followed by -y or -en (like renonces-y !). Because this is a negative command and the y comes before the verb, the "s" stays dropped.
Why is the verb comprennes used instead of the normal present tense comprends?
The conjunction jusqu'à ce que (until) always requires the verb that follows it to be in the subjunctive mood. Comprennes is the subjunctive tu form of comprendre.

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