Learn French: Nous devons y faire attention parce que la serrure a un symbole bizarre. - We must pay attention to it because the lock has a strange symbol.

Nous devons y faire attention parce que la serrure a un symbole bizarre.

We must pay attention to it because the lock has a strange symbol.

Breakdown of Nous devons y faire attention parce que la serrure a un symbole bizarre.

a / an (masculine)

nous

we / us (object pronoun)

Questions & Answers about Nous devons y faire attention parce que la serrure a un symbole bizarre.

Why do we use y here, and what exactly does it replace?

In French, the expression for "to pay attention to" is faire attention à. Because it requires the preposition à, we use the pronoun y to replace à plus an inanimate object or idea. In this sentence, y translates simply to "to it".

Why is y placed in the middle of the sentence before faire, rather than at the beginning before devons?

When you have a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive (like devons faire), object pronouns almost always go right before the infinitive they logically belong to. Because you are "paying attention to it" (y faire attention), the y must go directly before faire.

Could I say nous devons faire attention à ça instead of using y?

Yes, in casual, everyday spoken French, you will sometimes hear faire attention à ça. However, using y is the standard, most natural way to express "to it" in both written and spoken French, so it is the best habit to build.

Is the word symbole masculine or feminine? It ends in an "e" but uses un.