Breakdown of Quiconque pénètre dans ce grand périmètre doit montrer son badge.
grand
big / tall
dans
in, inside
ce
this (before a noun)
son
his/her/its (son, sa, ses)
devoir
to have to / must
montrer
to show
quiconque
whoever
le badge
the badge
pénétrer
to enter (penetrate)
le périmètre
the perimeter
Questions & Answers about Quiconque pénètre dans ce grand périmètre doit montrer son badge.
How does quiconque function as the subject for both pénètre and doit?
Quiconque means "whoever" or "anyone who." It acts as a singular pronoun that can serve as the subject of two connected clauses at once. Here, it is the subject of the action of entering (pénètre) and the main obligation (doit). Because it is grammatically singular, both verbs are conjugated in the third-person singular.
Why do we use the preposition dans after pénètre when the English just says "enters"?
When the verb pénétrer means to physically enter a space or location (like a perimeter, a building, or a room), it generally requires the preposition dans. You can think of it as meaning "enters into."
If quiconque means "whoever" (which could be multiple people), why do we use the singular possessive son?
Even though "whoever" implies any number of people in concept, quiconque is always strictly singular in French grammar. Because the owner is singular, we must use a singular possessive adjective (son, sa, or ses). We use son here because the noun being owned (badge) is masculine. In English, this is often translated as "their badge" (singular 'their') or "his/her badge."
As a quick refresher, why does the adjective grand go before périmètre?
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