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Je n'habite pas à la montagne.

Je n'habite pas à la montagne.
I don't live in the mountains.
From Lesson 17:Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)·French

Questions & Answers about Je n'habite pas à la montagne.

Why is there an apostrophe in n'habite instead of writing ne habite?
In French, the letter 'h' at the start of a word is usually silent. Because habite starts with a vowel sound, the negative word ne drops its 'e' and blends into the verb with an apostrophe. Also, notice that as a regular -er verb, habiter takes the -e ending for the je form.
Why is pas placed after the verb?
To make a sentence negative in French, you put ne (or n') right before the conjugated verb and pas right after it. Think of them like two halves of a sandwich around the verb habite.
The translation says "mountains" (plural), but isn't montagne singular here?
Yes, montagne is singular. In French, people say à la montagne to mean "in the mountains" as a general setting or environment. It is similar to how we say "at the beach" or "in the country" in English.
Why do we use à la to mean "in the"?
The French word à can mean "at", "to", or "in" depending on the context. Because montagne is a feminine noun, we use à la. If the location were masculine, it would combine into au.

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