Breakdown of Je peux accéder à mon bureau.
je
I
mon
my
à
to
le bureau
the office
pouvoir
to be able to
accéder
to access
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Questions & Answers about Je peux accéder à mon bureau.
What is the grammatical structure of Je peux accéder à mon bureau?
This sentence uses a modal construction. It begins with Je (the subject) followed by peux, which is the present-tense form of the modal verb pouvoir meaning “can.” The modal verb is then followed by the infinitive accéder (“to access”), and finally the object mon bureau is introduced by the preposition à. This structure—modal verb + infinitive—is very common in French.
Why is the infinitive accéder used after peux?
In French, modal verbs like pouvoir must be followed by an infinitive to indicate the action that is possible. This is similar to English, where we say “I can access…” The infinitive form remains unchanged regardless of the subject.
Why is the preposition à necessary after accéder?
The verb accéder requires the preposition à to introduce the noun that is being accessed. Just as in English we say “access to something,” the à cannot be omitted in French; it’s an integral part of the expression.
Why is the possessive adjective mon used with bureau?
The noun bureau is masculine in French. Therefore, the appropriate possessive adjective is mon (meaning “my”). If the noun were feminine, you would use ma instead.
How would I form the negative version of this sentence?
To make the sentence negative, you wrap the conjugated verb with ne and pas. The negative version becomes: Je ne peux pas accéder à mon bureau. This is the standard way of negating sentences in French.
Bureau can have multiple translations. What does it mean in this context?
The word bureau can mean either “office” or “desk” depending on context. In this sentence, the meaning depends on what has been indicated elsewhere. Often, if the context is about a workplace or professional setting, bureau refers to an “office” or “workspace.” Use the surrounding context to determine which translation fits best.