Learn French: Il n'a pas de passeport. - He does not have a passport.

Il n'a pas de passeport.

He does not have a passport.

Breakdown of Il n'a pas de passeport.

avoir

to have

not (used before the verb)

pas

not (used after the verb)

Questions & Answers about Il n'a pas de passeport.

Why is it n'a pas instead of ne a pas?

In French, when the negative word ne is followed by a word starting with a vowel (like the verb a), the e is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe. This makes it easier to say quickly!

Why does it say pas de passeport instead of pas un passeport?

This is a very important rule in French! When a sentence is negative, the indefinite articles like un (a) change to de. So, while 'He has a passport' is Il a un passeport, 'He does not have a passport' becomes Il n'a pas de passeport.

How would I turn this negative statement into a yes/no question using est-ce que?

To ask 'Does he not have a passport?', you just put est-ce que in front of the exact statement. Because il starts with a vowel, que shortens to qu', making it Est-ce qu'il n'a pas de passeport ?

If I ask 'Does he have a passport?' using est-ce que, do I still use de?

No, because the sentence is no longer negative! You would switch back to the normal word for 'a' (un), making the positive question Est-ce qu'il a un passeport ?