Learn French: Le micro coûte cher, baissez le volume de crainte de le casser. - The microphone is expensive, lower the volume for fear of breaking it.

Le micro coûte cher, baissez le volume de crainte de le casser.

The microphone is expensive, lower the volume for fear of breaking it.

Breakdown of Le micro coûte cher, baissez le volume de crainte de le casser.

him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)

casser

to break

Questions & Answers about Le micro coûte cher, baissez le volume de crainte de le casser.

Would cher change to chers if we were talking about multiple microphones?

No. In the expression coûter cher, cher is an adjective acting as an adverb to describe the verb. Adverbs are invariable, so it stays cher regardless of the subject's gender or number (for example, les micros coûtent cher).

Could I say Le micro est cher instead of Le micro coûte cher?

Yes, Le micro est cher is grammatically correct. However, coûter cher is a very natural and common way to express that something costs a lot. Note that in est cher, cher is a normal adjective and agrees with the subject, whereas in coûter cher it is an invariable adverb.

Why do we use de crainte de followed by the infinitive casser instead of de crainte que?

You use de crainte de plus an infinitive when the subject of both actions is the same (you are lowering the volume, and you are the one who might break it). If the subjects were different, you would have to use de crainte que followed by a conjugated verb in the subjunctive mood.

Why is the pronoun le placed immediately before casser?