Breakdown of L'endroit s'appelle le village noir, et j'erre sans rencontrer qui que ce soit.
je
I
et
and
sans
without
s'appeler
to be called
le village
the village
rencontrer
to meet
noir
black
l'endroit
the place, the spot (m)
errer
to wander
qui que ce soit
anyone at all
Questions & Answers about L'endroit s'appelle le village noir, et j'erre sans rencontrer qui que ce soit.
Why use qui que ce soit here instead of just saying personne?
Qui que ce soit translates to "anyone at all" or "anybody whatsoever." While sans rencontrer personne (without meeting anyone) is perfectly correct, using qui que ce soit adds a strong emphasis to the absolute lack of people. Notice that it works here because it is triggered by the negative preposition sans.
Does the verb j'erre mean "I make a mistake" here, like the English word "err"?
No, errer primarily means "to wander" or "to roam" aimlessly. It is a false friend in this context! If you wanted to say "I make a mistake," you would use je me trompe or je fais une erreur.
Why is the infinitive rencontrer used directly after sans instead of an equivalent to an "-ing" word?
In French, prepositions (like sans, de, pour, à) are almost always followed by the infinitive form of a verb. So, where English uses the gerund ("without meeting"), French simply uses the infinitive (sans rencontrer).
Why does the sentence use the reflexive s'appelle rather than the passive est appelé?
When stating the name of a place, a thing, or a person, French strongly prefers the reflexive verb s'appeler (literally "calls itself") over the passive voice (être appelé). Using the passive voice to just state a name sounds unnatural to French ears.
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