Why, in “Nous courons pour ne pas manquer notre train.”, do we have “ne pas manquer” and not “ne manquer pas”? I didn’t know that “ne pas” is valid.
The verb courir (to run) is irregular in Présent indicatif, in that it doesn't follow the regular -IR verbs conjugation.
COURIR (to run)
| je cours |
| tu cours |
| il/elle/on court |
| nous courons |
| vous courez |
| ils/elles courent |
Listen to these examples:
Je cours tous les matins.
I run every morning.
Où cours-tu comme ça ?
Where are you running like that?
Theresa court dans les champs de blé.
Theresa runs in fields of wheat.
Nous courons pour ne pas manquer notre train.
We're running in order to not miss our train.
Vous courez plus vite que nous.
You're running faster than we are.
See also:
Conjugate regular -ir verbs in Le Présent (present tense)
Conjugate partir, sortir and other -tir verbs in Le Présent (present tense)
Conjugate dormir and other -mir verbs in Le Présent (present tense)
Conjugate servir and other -vir verbs in Le Présent (present tense)
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Où cours-tu comme ça ?
Where are you running like that?
Nous courons pour ne pas manquer notre train.
We're running in order to not miss our train.
Je cours tous les matins.
I run every morning.
Vous courez plus vite que nous.
You're running faster than we are.
Theresa court dans les champs de blé.
Theresa runs in fields of wheat.
Les garçons courent après Julia.
The boys are chasing Julia.
Q&A Forum 2 questions, 5 answers
Hi Brian,
It is because the verb manquer which is in the infinitive so 'ne pas' comes before the verb and is not separated in this case.
Je vous prie de ne pas parler en mangeant = Please do not speak while eating
Ne pas se pencher par la fenêtre = Please don't lean out of the window
take a look at the following Kwiziq lesson for more examples -
https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/grammar/negation-of-infinitives-indirect-speech
Hope this helps!
Brian asked:View original
ne pas
Why, in “Nous courons pour ne pas manquer notre train.”, do we have “ne pas manquer” and not “ne manquer pas”? I didn’t know that “ne pas” is valid.
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I think this sentence requires an adverb to make it meaningful: souvent.jamais etc. Otherwise it sounds a bit odd, don't you think, like I wash my face ? The present tense denotes repeated or habitual actions, so there should be some kind of time reference, when, how often, , etc.
Cheers,
Pekka Järvilehto
Helsinki
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