Breakdown of Pourtant, la fente coince ma monnaie.
mon
my (mon, ma, mes)
la monnaie
the change (money)
pourtant
yet, however
la fente
the slot
coincer
to jam
Questions & Answers about Pourtant, la fente coince ma monnaie.
How would I apply the current lesson's structure to say the slot does nothing but jam my change?
You would use the structure ne faire que followed by the infinitive. The sentence becomes Pourtant, la fente ne fait que coincer ma monnaie. This perfectly expresses that the machine does nothing but jam your coins.
I usually use argent for money. Why is monnaie used here?
Monnaie is a bit of a false friend! While argent is the general word for money, monnaie specifically refers to loose change, coins, or a specific currency. Since we are talking about putting physical coins into a machine slot, monnaie is the exact word needed.
The verb coincer means to jam here. How would I say my change is jammed instead?
Could I use cependant instead of pourtant at the start of this sentence?
Yes, cependant and pourtant both mean however or yet and are largely interchangeable. The slight nuance is that pourtant strongly emphasizes a contradiction or a highly unexpected result (e.g., I put the coin in perfectly straight, yet it jammed), whereas cependant offers a slightly more formal and neutral contrast.
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