Breakdown of Pour ne pas grelotter, il gardait son manteau.
il
he
pour
for
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
son
his/her/its (son, sa, ses)
garder
to keep
le manteau
the coat
grelotter
to shiver
Questions & Answers about Pour ne pas grelotter, il gardait son manteau.
Why are ne and pas next to each other instead of surrounding the verb?
When negating an infinitive (an unconjugated verb like grelotter), both parts of the negative structure (ne and pas) stay together and go directly in front of the verb. If it were a conjugated verb, they would surround it (for example, il ne grelotte pas).
Why use the imperfect tense (gardait) here instead of the passé composé (a gardé)?
The imperfect tense is used to describe a continuing state or condition in the past. Here, keeping his coat on was an ongoing situation (he was keeping his coat on) rather than a single, suddenly completed action. If the sentence was meant to say he made a sudden decision to keep it at a specific moment, the passé composé would be used.
Does gardait son manteau mean he kept the coat permanently, or just that he kept it on?
Why is pour necessary at the beginning of the sentence?
The preposition pour followed by an infinitive is how you express purpose, translating to "in order to" or "so as to" in French. Therefore, pour ne pas grelotter is the standard way to say "in order not to shiver."
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