Word
Nous ne dansons pas, nous regardons un film.
Meaning
We are not dancing, we are watching a movie.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Nous ne dansons pas, nous regardons un film.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
regarder
to watch
Questions & Answers about Nous ne dansons pas, nous regardons un film.
Why does it translate to "we are watching" when there is no word for "are" in the French sentence?
In French, the present tense covers both simple actions ("we watch") and ongoing actions ("we are watching"). You don't need a separate word for "are" to show that it's happening right now! So, nous regardons means both "we watch" and "we are watching", and nous ne dansons pas means both "we do not dance" and "we are not dancing".
Why do dansons and regardons both end in -ons?
How do the negative words ne and pas work here?
Do I need an extra word for "at" if I want to say "looking at a movie"?
No, the verb regarder means "to look at" or "to watch" all by itself. You just put the thing you are watching (un film) directly after the verb without adding an extra preposition like "at".