Breakdown of Je crois que le schéma explique comment déplacer l'explosif doucement.
je
I
comment
how
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
expliquer
to explain
croire
to believe
que
that (introducing a clause)
déplacer
to move (change location of)
le schéma
the diagram
doucement
gently
l'explosif
the explosive (m)
Questions & Answers about Je crois que le schéma explique comment déplacer l'explosif doucement.
Why is explique in the indicative and not the subjunctive after Je crois que?
Why do we use comment déplacer for "how to move"? Is there no preposition?
In French, to express "how to do something", you simply use the question word comment directly followed by the infinitive of the verb. You do not need to add a preposition like à or de.
Is schéma a false friend for the English word "scheme"?
Could doucement mean "slowly" here instead of "gently"?
Yes! Doucement can mean gently, softly, or slowly depending on the context. When handling an explosive, moving it both slowly and gently makes perfect sense, so the meanings overlap here.
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