Breakdown of Je pivote rapidement pour ne pas me blesser le genou.
je
I
pour
for
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
rapidement
rapidly / quickly
se blesser
to hurt oneself
le genou
the knee
pivoter
to pivot
Questions & Answers about Je pivote rapidement pour ne pas me blesser le genou.
Why does the sentence use le genou (the knee) instead of mon genou (my knee)?
In French, it is much more natural to use the definite article (le, la, les) for body parts rather than possessive adjectives (mon, ton, etc.). To show whose knee is being injured, the sentence uses the reflexive pronoun me (myself) right before the verb blesser. Literally, this translates to "to not injure the knee to myself."
Why are ne and pas placed right next to each other here?
Because blesser is in the infinitive (unconjugated) form. When negating an infinitive, ne and pas are never separated. They group together immediately before the verb and any object pronouns, forming pour ne pas me blesser.
Could the pronoun me go before the negation, like pour me ne pas blesser?
No, the pronoun must stick closely to the infinitive verb it belongs to. The negative block ne pas must precede both the pronoun and the infinitive, making ne pas me blesser the only correct order.
If I wanted to say "injure my knees" (plural), how would the end of the sentence change?
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