French grammar - Past tense and negation - le passé composé with ne..pas |
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Negation of the passé composé is straight forward. Simply put the auxiliary verb between ne and pas. And any subject and object pronouns should also be inside ne and pas. Recall also that for inverted question forms which attach a subject pronoun to the verb with a hyphen - that attached pair should stay attached and be between the ne and pas also. |
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Michel n'a pas rangé son bureau.
Michel hasn't tidied up his desk. |
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Je n'ai pas visité Paris l'été dernier.
I did not visit Paris last summer. |
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Qui n'a pas mangé ses légumes ?
Who hasn't eaten their vegetables? |
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Elle n'a pas expliqué son problème.
She did not explain her problem. |
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Pourquoi n'ont-ils pas commencé leurs devoirs ?
Why didn't they start their homework? |
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Il ne lui a pas demandé.
He didn't ask him∆her. |
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Je n'ai pas acheté un seul de ces livres.
I didn't buy a single one of these books.
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Ne lui as-tu pas demandé ?
Did you (familiar) not ask him? |
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Je ne l'ai pas fait.
I did not do it. |
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Je n'ai vu Mathieu nulle part.
I haven't seen Mathieu anywhere. |
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Je n'ai jamais rien dit !
I never said anything! |
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Vous n'avez rien dit à personne.
You (formal) didn't tell anyone anything. |
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Nous n'avions jamais vu ce film.
We had never seen this film. |
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Nous n'avons pas nagé dans le lac.
We did not swim in the lake.
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Pourquoi n'as-tu pas partagé du gâteau avec ta sœur ?
Why didn't you (familiar) share some cake with your sister? |
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Nous n'avons jamais voulu vous faire de mal.
We never meant to hurt you (formal). |
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Ne l'avez-vous pas vu ?
Haven't you (formal) seen it? |
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Je n'ai jamais mangé d'escargots.
I have never eaten snails. |
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Pourquoi ne l'avez-vous pas cru ?
Why didn't you (formal) believe me? |
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Il n'a pas encore fait monter les valises.
He hasn't had the suitcases brought/taken up yet. |
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Je ne l'ai jamais cru.
I never believed him. |
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Je ne lui ai pas dit deux mots.
I didn't say two words to him. |
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N'as-tu jamais visité un pays étranger ?
Have you (familiar) ever visited a foreign country? |
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Ne l'avez-vous pas vu ?
Haven't you (formal) seen it? |
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Vous n'avez pas eu le temps de finir votre rapport.
You (formal) didn't have time to finish your report. |
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Il n'a ni parlé ni mangé.
He neither spoke nor ate. |
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Il n'a mangé ni le pain ni les pâtes.
He ate neither the bread nor the pasta. |
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Je n'ai donné que cinq euros.
I only gave five euros. |
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