Learn French: Il est censé mémoriser la séquence, sinon le cadenas reste bloqué. - He is supposed to memorize the sequence, otherwise the padlock stays stuck.

Il est censé mémoriser la séquence, sinon le cadenas reste bloqué.

He is supposed to memorize the sequence, otherwise the padlock stays stuck.

Breakdown of Il est censé mémoriser la séquence, sinon le cadenas reste bloqué.

Questions & Answers about Il est censé mémoriser la séquence, sinon le cadenas reste bloqué.

How is est censé different from using doit (from devoir) here?

Être censé translates to "to be supposed to." It expresses an expectation or a theory rather than a strict obligation. If we used Il doit mémoriser, it would mean "He must memorize" or "He has to memorize."

Is Il definitely a person ("He") in this context?

Not necessarily. Il can also mean "It" if it refers to a masculine noun mentioned earlier, like a system (le système) or a device (l'appareil) that is supposed to memorize the sequence.

How could we rewrite the second half of this sentence using finir par to show the ultimate outcome?

To emphasize the final result using the structure from this lesson, you could say sinon le cadenas finit par se bloquer (otherwise the padlock ends up getting stuck) or sinon le cadenas finit par rester bloqué (otherwise the padlock ends up staying stuck).

Why is reste used here instead of a word like est (is)?

Rester means "to stay" or "to remain" (it is a false friend and rarely means "to rest"). Using reste bloqué shows that the padlock is already stuck and will continue to be in that state if the sequence isn't entered, whereas est bloqué simply states its current condition.