Log inSign up

Ce livre est trop théorique pour comprendre le cours.

Ce livre est trop théorique pour comprendre le cours.
This book is too theoretical to understand the course.
From Lesson 280:Degree with infinitives (trop, assez)·French

Questions & Answers about Ce livre est trop théorique pour comprendre le cours.

Why do we use pour before comprendre here?
In French, to express 'too [adjective] to [do something]', we use the structure trop [adjective] pour [infinitive]. Here, trop théorique is followed by pour plus the infinitive comprendre to show the consequence of the book being too theoretical.
The book isn't doing the understanding! Why can we use the infinitive comprendre here?
Excellent catch! Usually, an infinitive shares the subject of the main sentence. However, with the trop ... pour structure, the infinitive can be used in a general sense, meaning 'too theoretical for anyone to understand'. If you wanted to specify a person, you would need to use pour que followed by the subjunctive, like pour que je comprenne (for me to understand).
Does le cours refer to the physical classroom?
No, le cours refers to the lesson, lecture, or the academic material itself. If you meant the physical room, you would use la salle de classe.
Just to be sure, why is it Ce livre and not Cet livre?
Ce is the masculine singular word for 'this' or 'that'. You only change it to cet when the following masculine noun starts with a vowel or a mute H to make pronunciation smoother. Since livre starts with a consonant, ce is the correct choice.

Learn Ce livre est trop théorique pour comprendre le cours and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →