Question 1

Why is the word order dont il doit deviner le code instead of matching the English "whose code he must guess"?

Accepted Answer

When dont means "whose", the noun it possesses (le code) doesn't move to the front of the clause like it does in English. It stays in its normal position as the object of the verb. It helps to translate it literally in your head as "of which": "This is the safe of which he must guess the code".

Question 2

Why do we use dont instead of que here?

Accepted Answer

The relative pronoun dont is used to replace a phrase that begins with the preposition de (of/from). If you split this into two separate sentences, you would say: C'est le coffre-fort. (This is the safe.) and Il doit deviner le code du coffre-fort. (He must guess the code of the safe.) Because the relationship uses de (inside du), you must link them with dont.

Question 3

Why does code have the article le in front of it? Doesn't dont mean "whose"?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but unlike the English word "whose", dont doesn't replace the article. Because dont acts more like "of which" and is separated from the noun it possesses, that noun still requires its own definite article (le, la, or les). Therefore, we say dont ... le code.

Question 4

Can I use deviner anytime I would say "guess" in English?

Accepted Answer

Only when you mean "guess" in the sense of figuring something out, predicting, or taking a wild guess (like a safe's code, a riddle, or an outcome). If you are using "guess" to mean "suppose" (as in, "I guess we should leave now"), you would use a verb like supposer or penser instead.

C'est le coffre-fort dont il doit deviner le code.

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