La peur nous empêche parfois de dire la vérité, mais il ne faut jamais mentir.

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Breakdown of La peur nous empêche parfois de dire la vérité, mais il ne faut jamais mentir.

• mais: but
• de: from
• parfois: sometimes
• la vérité: the truth
• la peur: the fear
• jamais: never
• nous: us
• empêcher: to prevent
• falloir: it is necessary
• mentir: to lie

Questions & Answers about La peur nous empêche parfois de dire la vérité, mais il ne faut jamais mentir.

Why is there de before dire la vérité in empêche parfois de dire la vérité?

In French, the verb empêcher (meaning "to prevent") must be followed by de before an infinitive. So when you say empêcher quelqu’un de faire quelque chose ("to prevent someone from doing something"), you always include de before the action verb.

Why does the sentence switch from la peur to using il in il ne faut jamais mentir?

The French phrase il ne faut pas (or in this case il ne faut jamais) is an impersonal construction meaning "one must not" or "it is necessary not to." The il here doesn't refer to any specific person or thing, but simply sets up a general statement or rule.

Why do we use jamais instead of pas in the negative expression il ne faut jamais mentir?

Jamais means "never," emphasizing that lying should not happen at any time. Using pas would mean "it is not necessary to lie" in a more general sense, while jamais makes it clear it is absolutely never acceptable to lie.

Is there a difference between la peur nous empêche and la peur nous arrête?

While both can imply stopping someone from doing something, empêcher focuses on preventing an action from happening in the first place, whereas arrêter can mean stopping an action already in progress. In this context, empêche is the correct choice because fear prevents or hinders someone from even starting to tell the truth.

How would you say this sentence in a more casual or colloquial register?

You could say something like: Des fois, on n’ose pas dire la vérité à cause de la peur, mais faut jamais mentir. This version uses des fois for "sometimes" and drops the il in il faut, which is common in casual spoken French.