Breakdown of Le sujet égoïste nuit à l'altruisme des autres.
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
égoïste
selfish
le sujet
the subject, the topic
les autres
the others
l'altruisme (m)
the altruism (m)
nuire à
to harm
Questions & Answers about Le sujet égoïste nuit à l'altruisme des autres.
Since the lesson is about pairs like les uns... les autres, why do we only see des autres here?
While you are learning paired distribution pronouns like les uns... les autres (some... others) or l'un et l'autre (both), you do not have to use them as a strict pair. Here, des autres (a contraction of de + les autres) simply contrasts "the others" with the specific singular entity mentioned earlier: le sujet égoïste.
Why is there an à after nuit?
The verb nuire (to harm or to be detrimental) requires the preposition à in French, making it an indirect object verb. This is different from English, where "to harm" takes a direct object. You must always say nuire à quelqu'un or nuire à quelque chose.
Does le sujet refer to a person here?
Yes. While un sujet often means a topic of conversation or a grammatical subject, in philosophical, psychological, or sociological contexts, it refers to an individual person (a human "subject").
What is the infinitive of nuit, and how does its use of à affect its past tense?
The infinitive is nuire. A crucial rule to remember at this level is that because it takes the indirect preposition à, its past participle nui never agrees with the object. For example, "the things that harmed me" is les choses qui m'ont nui (no added -e or -s).
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