Learn French: En cas d'inondation, ce capteur va alerter le propriétaire. - In case of a flood, this sensor will alert the owner.

En cas d'inondation, ce capteur va alerter le propriétaire.

In case of a flood, this sensor will alert the owner.

Breakdown of En cas d'inondation, ce capteur va alerter le propriétaire.

this (before a noun)

aller

to go

him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)

le propriétaire

the landlord

Questions & Answers about En cas d'inondation, ce capteur va alerter le propriétaire.

Why is there no article before inondation? Shouldn't it be en cas d'une inondation?

After the phrase en cas de (in case of), the article is usually dropped when referring to a general concept, event, or hazard. Since this sentence talks about flooding in general rather than one specific flood, it simply becomes en cas d'inondation.

Could I use a verb here and say en cas d'inonder to mean "in case of flooding"?

No, en cas de must always be followed by a noun (or a pronoun). If you want to use a verb structure to express "in case", you have to use a different phrase: au cas où, which is followed by a subject and a verb in the conditional tense (for example, au cas où il y aurait une inondation).

The English translation uses the future tense "will alert". Why does the French use va alerter instead of alertera?

You can absolutely use the futur simple (alertera) here, and it would be perfectly correct! However, the futur proche (va alerter) is extremely common in everyday French. In this technical context, it also highlights the immediate, automatic, and certain nature of the sensor's reaction if a flood happens.

Inondation looks a bit like the English word "inundation". Are they related?