Breakdown of Tu as besoin de persévérance, sinon tu ne vas jamais débloquer ce mécanisme.
tu
you (informal singular)
ne
not (used before the verb)
ce
this (before a noun)
aller
to go
jamais
never / ever
avoir besoin de
to need
le mécanisme
the mechanism
sinon
otherwise
la persévérance
the perseverance
débloquer
to unlock
Questions & Answers about Tu as besoin de persévérance, sinon tu ne vas jamais débloquer ce mécanisme.
The current lesson is about finir par. How could I rephrase the second half of this sentence to say "otherwise you will never end up unlocking this mechanism"?
You would say sinon tu ne vas jamais finir par débloquer ce mécanisme. Notice the word order: the negation ne ... jamais surrounds the conjugated helping verb vas, which is then followed by the infinitive phrase finir par débloquer.
Why is it de persévérance rather than de la persévérance?
In tu ne vas jamais débloquer, why doesn't jamais go after débloquer?
In structures with a conjugated verb plus an infinitive (like the near future used here), negative words like pas, rien, or jamais go around the conjugated verb. Here, ne ... jamais surrounds vas, and the infinitive débloquer comes right after.
Does sinon only mean "otherwise"?
In this sentence it means "otherwise", which is its most common meaning. However, as an advanced learner, you will also see sinon used to mean "except" (for example, rien d'autre sinon ça - nothing else except that) or "if not" when suggesting an alternative.
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