Word
Un objet volumineux ne doit jamais être incinéré sans être broyé.
Meaning
A bulky object must never be incinerated without being shredded.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Un objet volumineux ne doit jamais être incinéré sans être broyé.
être
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
sans
without
ne
not (used before the verb)
Questions & Answers about Un objet volumineux ne doit jamais être incinéré sans être broyé.
How does the passive voice work with the modal verb devoir in this sentence?
When using a modal verb like devoir (must) in the passive voice, you conjugate the modal verb and follow it with the infinitive être, plus the past participle of the main action verb. Here, we have the conjugated doit + the infinitive être + the past participle incinéré.
Why is it sans être broyé instead of something like sans étant broyé for 'without being shredded'?
In English, we say 'without being', using an '-ing' verb. However, in French, prepositions like sans (without), pour (for/in order to), and de (of/from) are always followed by the infinitive form of a verb. To say 'without being [action]', you must use sans être followed by the past participle.
Where does the negative ne ... jamais go when you have a modal verb and a passive infinitive?
The two parts of a standard negation wrap around the conjugated verb. Because the modal verb doit is the only conjugated verb here, we get ne doit jamais. The entire passive infinitive part (être incinéré) stays together afterward.
Do the past participles incinéré and broyé need to agree with anything here?