Breakdown of Le pirate va contourner ce bouclier à moins qu'on ne restreigne l'accès.
on
one / we (informal)
ce
this (before a noun)
aller
to go
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
le pirate
the hacker
l'accès
the access (m)
à moins que
unless
ne
expletive 'ne' (no negative meaning)
contourner
to bypass
le bouclier
the shield
restreindre
to restrict
Questions & Answers about Le pirate va contourner ce bouclier à moins qu'on ne restreigne l'accès.
Why is there a ne before restreigne if the English translation isn't negative?
This is the ne explétif (expletive 'ne'). It doesn't make the sentence negative. Instead, it highlights the cautious or preventative nuance of the conjunction à moins que (unless). While you will see it frequently in written or formal French after certain conjunctions like à moins que, avant que, and de peur que, it is completely optional and often dropped in everyday speech.
Why is restreigne in the subjunctive mood?
The conjunction à moins que always requires the subjunctive. This is because it introduces a hypothetical condition or a restriction that hasn't actually happened yet.
What is the infinitive of restreigne, and how do you find its subjunctive stem?
The infinitive is restreindre (to restrict). Like many irregular -re verbs, you find its subjunctive stem by taking the nous form of the present indicative (nous restreignons), dropping the -ons, and adding the subjunctive endings. That gives us the stem restreign- for qu'on ne restreigne.
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