Ne cours pas trop vite, tu risques d’oublier où tu vas.

Do not run too fast, you might forget where you are going.

Breakdown of Ne cours pas trop vite, tu risques d’oublier où tu vas.

• tu: you
• ne ... pas: not
• aller: to go
• de: of

Questions & Answers about Ne cours pas trop vite, tu risques d’oublier où tu vas.

Why is it cours and not something like coures or courez after Ne in Ne cours pas?

In French, the imperative form of courir for the second person singular (tu) is cours, which happens to look exactly like the indicative form. The endings don't change as they might in English, so Ne cours pas is the correct way to give the negative command: “Don’t run.”

Why do we use Ne and pas for the negative command rather than just one negative word?

French commonly uses a two-part negation: ne … pas. In commands, as with statements, you surround the verb with ne in front and pas after it. That’s why you get Ne cours pas (“Don’t run”).

What does tu risques d’oublier literally translate to, and why is there a d’ there instead of de?

Literally, tu risques d’oublier means “you risk forgetting.” The d’ is a contracted form of de that appears because oublier starts with a vowel (o). So de + oublier becomes d’oublier.

Why do we say où tu vas instead of something like où vas-tu?