Breakdown of Pour la désamorcer, tire doucement sur le détonateur.
sur
on
pour
for
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
tirer
to pull
doucement
gently
le détonateur
the detonator
désamorcer
to defuse
Questions & Answers about Pour la désamorcer, tire doucement sur le détonateur.
Why is it la désamorcer instead of désamorcer la?
In French, object pronouns like la (meaning 'it', referring here to a feminine noun like la bombe) are placed directly before the infinitive verb they belong to.
Doesn't tirer sur usually mean 'to shoot at'?
Since this is an instruction to a single person, why doesn't tire have an 's' at the end?
In the imperative mood (used for commands), regular -er verbs drop the final 's' in the tu form. So, tu tires becomes the command tire.
How could we use this lesson's focus, une fois que, to say 'Once you have defused it, you will be safe'?
You would say Une fois que tu l'auras désamorcée, tu seras en sécurité. Because the defusing must be fully completed before the safety happens in the future, we use the future perfect tense (le futur antérieur) after une fois que. Note the extra 'e' on désamorcée to agree with the preceding direct object l'.
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