Word
Tu dois faire attention à ne pas effrayer la grenouille.
Meaning
You must be careful not to frighten the frog.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Tu dois faire attention à ne pas effrayer la grenouille.
tu
you (informal singular)
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
à
at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)
Questions & Answers about Tu dois faire attention à ne pas effrayer la grenouille.
Why are ne and pas right next to each other before effrayer?
Normally, ne and pas wrap around a conjugated verb. However, when making an infinitive (unconjugated) verb negative, both parts stay together directly in front of the verb. That is why ne pas sits as a single block right before the infinitive effrayer.
Why is the preposition à used just before the negative verb?
The French expression for "to pay attention to" or "to be careful" is faire attention à. When you are being careful "not to do" something, the à stays in place to link the expression directly to the negative infinitive.
Why doesn't ne drop its 'e' to become n' since effrayer starts with a vowel?
Elision (changing to an apostrophe) only happens when ne is placed directly next to a vowel sound. Because the infinitive rule forces ne and pas to stay together, the word right after ne is pas, which starts with a consonant.