Breakdown of Avec de la patience, tu vas finir par résoudre ce casse-tête.
tu
you (informal singular)
avec
with
ce
this (before a noun)
aller
to go
de la
some (partitive, feminine)
la patience
the patience
résoudre
to solve
le casse-tête
the puzzle (brainteaser)
finir par
to end up
Questions & Answers about Avec de la patience, tu vas finir par résoudre ce casse-tête.
Why does the French sentence use the infinitive résoudre when the English translation uses the "-ing" form "solving"?
The structure finir par is always followed by an infinitive verb in French, even though it translates to "to end up doing" something in English. You will never use a present participle (like résolvant) after par in this expression.
How does finir par work together with tu vas in this sentence?
finir behaves just like a normal verb, meaning you can easily stack it with other verb structures. Here, it is used in the futur proche (near future) tense: aller conjugated as tu vas, followed by the infinitive finir. This creates the layered meaning "you are going to end up".
Why do we say avec de la patience instead of just avec patience?
French generally requires an article before abstract nouns. The partitive article de la translates to "some patience." While you might occasionally hear avec patience as a fixed adverbial expression meaning "patiently," using avec de la patience specifically highlights having a certain amount of patience as a resource to tackle the puzzle.
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