Breakdown of Nous ne savons pas comment entrer dans le donjon.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
dans
in, inside
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
comment
how
entrer
to enter
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
savoir
to know (a fact), to know how to
le donjon
the dungeon
Questions & Answers about Nous ne savons pas comment entrer dans le donjon.
Why is entrer in the infinitive here instead of conjugated?
This is an example of an indirect question! When the subject of the main verb (Nous) is the same as the person doing the action in the question, French uses the question word (comment) followed directly by an infinitive (entrer). It translates perfectly to the English structure 'how to enter'.
Why do we need dans after entrer? In English, we just say 'enter the dungeon'.
Unlike English, the French verb entrer usually requires a preposition to show what you are going into. You will almost always see entrer dans (literally 'to enter into') when a physical place follows it.
Could we use a form of connaître instead of savons here?
Does donjon mean exactly the same thing as the English word 'dungeon'?
It is often a false friend! Historically, a donjon in French is the 'keep' or main tower of a castle, which is usually above ground. However, thanks to fantasy games and pop culture, it is now widely understood to mean a typical underground dungeon in those contexts as well.
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