Breakdown of L'adversaire me force à bloquer.
me
me, myself (object pronoun)
l'adversaire
the opponent
forcer à
to force to
bloquer
to block
Questions & Answers about L'adversaire me force à bloquer.
Why is there an à before bloquer?
The verb forcer (to force) requires the preposition à when it is followed by an infinitive verb. French has many verbs that follow this pattern, and it is best to memorize them as a full phrase: forcer quelqu'un à faire quelque chose (to force someone to do something).
Since there is an à in the sentence, is me an indirect object?
No, me is a direct object here. The à connects the verb force to the infinitive bloquer, not to the pronoun. The structure is forcer [quelqu'un] à.... Because there is no preposition before the person being forced, that person is a direct object.
What if the opponent was forcing someone else to block me? Where would me go?
Object pronouns go directly before the verb they belong to. In this sentence, the opponent forces you, so me goes before force. If the opponent forced someone else to block you, me would go before the infinitive instead: L'adversaire force à me bloquer.
Could I ever use de with forcer instead of à?
Yes, but usually only in the passive voice! When someone actively forces you to do something, you use à (Il me force à bloquer). However, if you are describing the state of being forced ("I am forced to block"), the preposition changes to de: Je suis forcé de bloquer.
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