Breakdown of Tu dois l'esquiver si tu ne parviens pas à le bloquer.
tu
you (informal singular)
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
devoir
to have to / must
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
si
if
parvenir à
to manage to
esquiver
to dodge
bloquer
to block
Questions & Answers about Tu dois l'esquiver si tu ne parviens pas à le bloquer.
Why is there an "à" before "le bloquer"?
This is because of the verb parvenir (to manage or succeed). In French, many verbs require the preposition à when they are followed by an infinitive. So, "to manage to do something" translates to parvenir à faire quelque chose.
I thought "to manage" was "gérer". Why use "parvenir" here?
Why are the object pronouns "l'" and "le" placed right before "esquiver" and "bloquer"?
When a sentence has a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive (like dois esquiver or parviens à bloquer), the object pronoun goes immediately before the infinitive it belongs to, rather than before the conjugated verb.
Why doesn't the negation "ne ... pas" go around the infinitive "bloquer"?
The negative words ne and pas surround the conjugated verb (parviens), not the infinitive. Even though you are failing to block the object, grammatically you are negating the attempt itself: you "do not manage" (ne parviens pas).
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