Breakdown of Vous vous laisserez berner si vous ne faites pas attention !
vous
you (plural/formal)
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
faire attention
to pay attention, to be careful
si
if
se laisser
to let oneself
berner
to fool
Questions & Answers about Vous vous laisserez berner si vous ne faites pas attention !
Why is berner in the active infinitive here when the English translation uses the passive "be fooled"?
The structure se laisser (to let oneself be) is always followed directly by an active infinitive in French, even though we translate it with a passive voice in English. You never use être or a past participle in this construction. Literally, it translates closer to "You will let (someone) fool you."
Could I place the reflexive pronoun directly in front of the infinitive, like Vous laisserez vous berner?
No, because se laisser functions as the core reflexive unit here. Even though there is a second verb (berner), the reflexive pronoun (vous) must go immediately before the conjugated verb (laisserez).
Why is faites in the present tense if the first half of the sentence is talking about an event in the future?
This is a standard French rule for "if" statements. When a sentence predicts a future outcome, the condition following si (if) must be in the present tense, while the result clause (Vous vous laisserez berner) takes the future tense. You cannot use the future tense directly after si in this context.
Is berner the best word to use here, or would a word like tromper work just as well?
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