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J'ai le sort, mais je dois choisir quand le lancer.

J'ai le sort, mais je dois choisir quand le lancer.
I have the spell, but I must choose when to cast it.
From Lesson 282:Indirect questions with infinitives·French

Questions & Answers about J'ai le sort, mais je dois choisir quand le lancer.

Why is it quand le lancer instead of something like quand à le lancer for 'when to cast it'?
In French, when you form an indirect question using a question word like quand (when), comment (how), or où (where) followed by an infinitive, you do not use a connecting word like the English 'to'. You just put the question word directly before the infinitive. So, 'when to cast' is simply quand lancer.
Why does the pronoun le come before lancer instead of after it?
In French, object pronouns like le (meaning 'it' here, referring to le sort) must be placed directly in front of the verb they belong to. Because you are casting 'it', the le goes right before the infinitive lancer, creating the phrase quand le lancer.
Does le sort usually mean 'the spell'?
Le sort can mean 'the spell' in a magical sense, but it also commonly translates to 'fate', 'chance', or 'destiny' in everyday French. In this sentence, because we are talking about choosing when to cast it, it definitely means a magic spell!
I thought lancer meant 'to throw' or 'to launch'. Does it also mean 'to cast'?
Yes! While lancer literally means 'to throw' or 'to toss', it is the standard verb used in French for casting a spell (lancer un sort). You can think of it as physically 'throwing' the magic.

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