Breakdown of Le garde du corps craint que l'agresseur ne frappe.
que
that (introducing a clause)
frapper
to knock / to hit
ne
expletive 'ne' (no negative meaning)
le garde du corps
the bodyguard
craindre
to fear
l'agresseur
the attacker (m)
Questions & Answers about Le garde du corps craint que l'agresseur ne frappe.
Why is there a ne before frappe if the sentence isn't negative?
Is frappe in the subjunctive mood here?
Yes! The verb craindre que expresses an emotion (fear) and always requires the subjunctive in the subordinate clause. Because frapper is a regular -er verb, its subjunctive form (frappe) looks exactly like the present indicative, but grammatically it is indeed the subjunctive.
Where does the word "might" come from in the English translation?
The "might" is a natural way to convey the feeling of the French subjunctive in English. The combination of craint que and the subjunctive shows that the strike is a potential, feared event rather than a guaranteed fact, which "might" captures perfectly.
If there were multiple bodyguards, would the plural be les gardes des corps?
No, it would be les gardes du corps. In French compound nouns formed with a preposition (noun + de + noun), usually only the first noun is made plural. They are guarding "the body" as a general concept, so du corps remains singular.
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