Breakdown of Tenir la batterie à l'écart de l'humidité.
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
à
at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
tenir
to hold
la batterie
the battery
l'écart
the distance (m)
l'humidité
the humidity (f)
Questions & Answers about Tenir la batterie à l'écart de l'humidité.
Why is Tenir in the infinitive here instead of using the imperative like Tenez?
This is the infinitive used as a command (the focus of your current lesson). In French, general instructions on manuals, recipes, and public warnings use the infinitive because the command is impersonal—it applies generally to anyone reading the label, rather than addressing a specific person in a conversation.
How does à l'écart de mean away from?
Why is it de l'humidité instead of just d'humidité?
In French, abstract nouns and general concepts require a definite article (le, la, l'), so 'humidity' is l'humidité. The de in à l'écart de is a standard preposition ('from'), not a quantity word. If it were a quantity phrase like 'a lot of', you would drop the article and say beaucoup d'humidité, but here you keep the article, resulting in de l'humidité.
Could I say Garder instead of Tenir?
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