Breakdown of Ne t'approche pas du four incandescent de peur de te brûler !
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
du
of the / from the (masculine singular, with plural des)
se brûler
to burn oneself
le four
the oven
s'approcher
to come closer
de peur de
for fear of
incandescent
incandescent
Questions & Answers about Ne t'approche pas du four incandescent de peur de te brûler !
Why do we use de peur de + infinitive here instead of de peur que + subjunctive?
Because the person receiving the command (you) is the same person who might get burned. When the subject is the same for both actions, French uses de peur de or de crainte de followed by an infinitive. You would only use de peur que + subjunctive if the subjects were different, like 'for fear that the oven might burn you'.
Why is there a te before brûler, rather than just saying de peur de brûler?
The verb is reflexive: se brûler (to burn oneself). Even when a reflexive verb is in the infinitive form, its reflexive pronoun must agree with the logical subject. Since the sentence is directed at you (tu), the pronoun changes from se to te.
Why is it du four and not just le four?
In the command Ne t'approche pas, why does the pronoun t' come before the verb instead of after?
In negative imperative commands, reflexive and object pronouns stay in their normal position right before the verb. If this were an affirmative command (telling someone to do the action rather than not to), the pronoun would move after the verb and change form: Approche-toi !
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