Learn French: Vous n'avez pas le temps.

Vous n'avez pas le temps.

You do not have time.

Breakdown of Vous n'avez pas le temps.

not (used before the verb)

pas

not (used after the verb)

Questions & Answers about Vous n'avez pas le temps.

Why is it n'avez and not ne avez?

In French, the negative word ne drops its letter e and becomes n' when the next word starts with a vowel or a silent h. Since the verb avez starts with a vowel, ne and avez merge into n'avez.

Where exactly do we put the negative words in this sentence?

The two parts of the negative, ne (or n') and pas, always hug the conjugated verb. Here, they go right before and after the verb avez to make n'avez pas.

The translation is just time, but the French sentence says le temps. Why is there a le?

In English, we usually leave out articles when talking about general concepts like time. French almost always requires a definite article (like le, la, or les) before a noun, so you must say le temps instead of just temps.

Why does temps have an s at the end if it is singular?

The French word temps naturally ends in an s, even in the singular form. Both the p and the s at the end of this word are completely silent.