Question 1

How does the passive voice work with the modal verb doit in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

To form the passive voice with a modal verb like devoir (must), you conjugate the modal verb and follow it with the infinitive être (to be) plus the past participle of the action verb. Here, doit is conjugated to match the subject Chacun, followed by the passive infinitive être compressé.

Question 2

Why is compressé in the masculine singular form when the sentence talks about ces morceaux, which is plural?

Accepted Answer

In the passive voice, the past participle must agree with the grammatical subject of the sentence. The true subject here is the singular pronoun Chacun (Each one), not the plural noun morceaux. Because Chacun is masculine singular, compressé takes the default masculine singular ending.

Question 3

Could I use Chaque instead of Chacun at the beginning of this sentence?

Accepted Answer

No, because chaque is an adjective that must be followed directly by a noun (for example, Chaque morceau). Chacun is a pronoun meaning "each one", which can stand alone or be followed by de (of), as we see here with Chacun de ces morceaux (Each of these pieces).

Question 4

Why is it d'aluminium instead of de l'aluminium?

Accepted Answer

When a noun modifies another noun to tell us what material it is made of, French uses de (or d' before a vowel sound) without the definite article. Therefore, "pieces of aluminum" is simply morceaux d'aluminium.

Chacun de ces morceaux d'aluminium doit être compressé.

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