Learn French: Je ne veux pas aider ce garçon. - I do not want to help this boy.

Je ne veux pas aider ce garçon.

I do not want to help this boy.

Breakdown of Je ne veux pas aider ce garçon.

le garçon

the boy

not (used before the verb)

pas

not (used after the verb)

Questions & Answers about Je ne veux pas aider ce garçon.

Why is it veux here, and how do you pronounce it?

Veux is the form of the verb vouloir (to want) that goes with je (I). The "x" at the end is silent, so it is pronounced a bit like "vuh".

Why is the second verb, aider, left in its dictionary form?

In French, when you have two verbs together like "want to help", only the first verb is changed (conjugated) to match the subject. Since veux is already conjugated, the second verb aider stays in its full infinitive form.

Why does ne ... pas go around veux instead of aider?

The negative words ne and pas act like a sandwich that always wraps around the conjugated verb. Since veux is the conjugated verb here, we say ne veux pas. The infinitive aider simply comes after the sandwich.

Why do we use ce for "this" instead of cet or cette?

Because garçon is a masculine word that starts with a consonant, we use ce. If it were feminine, we would use cette, and if it were a masculine word starting with a vowel sound, we would use cet.