Negation in sentence above

Andrea N.B2Kwiziq community member

Negation in sentence above

Would "Nous ne  reconnaissons pas vous" be an acceptable alternative to "Nous ne vous reconnaissons pas" ? Why is ne..pas wrapped around two words in your sentence? 

Asked 5 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Andrea, 

I am afraid not.

This is to do with the position of the object pronoun 'vous' which precedes the verb in Fench.

Take a look at the following Kwiziq lesson which will give you further examples -

https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/grammar/position-of-object-pronouns-in-negative-sentences-direct-and-indirect-pronouns

 

Hope this helps!

Dr Michael E.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Bonjour Andrea, le « ne...pas » must include the direct pronoun « vous » and the verb.  Even if the direct pronoun is « le » ou « la » ou « les » ou « me, te, nous, vous », all pronouns before the verb have the ne before the pronouns and the « pas » after the verb.  In some cases, some verbs have 2 pronouns before the verb.  With these cases the « ne...pas ». Is wrapped around all 3 words, the 2 pronouns and the verb.  An example of that is:   1.  Je te l’explique. .>>> Je ne te l’explique pas.

In the past tense:     2.  Je te l’ai expliqué.>>> Je ne te l’ai pas expliqué.  In the passé composé, the ne pas wraps around the 1 or 2 pronouns and the helping verb (avoir in this example) and not the participe passé of the main verb, expliquer, in this example. 

If you have a question, please ask...J’espère que tu m’as compris.

Bonne journée...

Andrea N. asked:

Negation in sentence above

Would "Nous ne  reconnaissons pas vous" be an acceptable alternative to "Nous ne vous reconnaissons pas" ? Why is ne..pas wrapped around two words in your sentence? 

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Let me take a look at that...