Bonjour,
I just want to make absolutely sure that I now properly understand this:
I know how to use negation in a simple sentence. No problem.
I still am a bit shaky on sentences with two verbs; if I understood you correctly, then when a negative sentence has two verbs, both parts of the negative go before the verb that is in the infinitive.
Thus, if I wanted to say: "you cannot give us an apple", I would say:
"vous pouvez ne pas nous donner une pomme" IS THAT CORRECT???
(earlier I would have put it this way "vous ne pouvez pas nous donner une pomme" which, according to what I think you said, would be incorrect.)
Thank you once again for your help and clarification.
negative form : ne + verbe conjugué + pas/plus....
or
ne + pas/plus ... + verbe à l'infinitif
so in your first sentence, the negative form refers to the verb "donner" = not to give
in your second sentence, the negative form refers to the verb "pouvoir" = cannot
Let's hope it's clear now to you. You must determine if it is the "object" of the infinitive, as in the first example or of the main/conjugated verb. Therefore:
vous ne pouvez pas nous donner une pomme. = you CAN'T (can not) is the more likely choice.
Mme
Which sounds better to you: You are able not to give us OR You are not able to give us. Hopefully it's now easy to tell?
but
vous pouvez ne pas nous donner une pomme is correct too but
True, but he probably didn't mean that, true?
yes,you're right
Merci beaucoup Mme SraJMcGin et mk-tintin
Bonjour,
You are on the right track, but let me clarify the usage of negation with two verbs in French.
In a negative sentence with two verbs, the negation typically surrounds the conjugated verb, while the second verb remains in the infinitive form. However, there are some variations depending on the type of sentence.
For your example, "You cannot give us an apple," the correct sentence in French would be:
"Vous ne pouvez pas nous donner une pomme."
In this case, the negation "ne...pas" surrounds the conjugated verb "pouvez," and the second verb "donner" remains as an infinitive.
So, your earlier understanding was correct. The structure "ne...pas" is placed around the conjugated verb, while the second verb remains in the infinitive form.
Please keep in mind that this is the standard negation structure. There can be variations depending on the specific context or the presence of other elements in the sentence. But for most cases, the structure I explained above will work.
I hope this clarifies the usage of negation with two verbs in French. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask!