Breakdown of Malgré la peur, il a tout perdu à la roulette.
il
he
avoir
to have
à
at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)
la peur
the fear
perdre
to lose
la
her, it (feminine direct object pronoun)
tout
all, everything
malgré
despite
la roulette
the roulette
Questions & Answers about Malgré la peur, il a tout perdu à la roulette.
Why does tout go in the middle of the verb (a tout perdu)?
This is the main rule for the pronoun tout (everything) in compound tenses like the passé composé. It must be placed between the helper verb (a) and the past participle (perdu). Saying il a perdu tout is grammatically incorrect in French.
Could I say Bien que la peur instead of Malgré la peur?
No, you can't use bien que (although / even though) here. Malgré (despite) is a preposition, so it must be followed directly by a noun, like la peur. Bien que is a conjunction that must be followed by a full clause with a subject and a verb, such as bien qu'il ait eu peur (even though he was afraid).
How do we get perdu from the verb perdre (to lose)?
Perdre is a regular -re verb. To form the past participle for these verbs in the passé composé, you drop the -re ending and add -u. So, perdre becomes perdu, just like attendre (to wait) becomes attendu.
Why do we need la in à la roulette? Doesn't English just say "at roulette"?
French almost always requires an article before a noun, even when English drops it. When talking about participating in a game or a sport, French uses the preposition à combined with the definite article (le, la, or les). Since roulette is feminine, it becomes à la roulette.
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