Breakdown of Il ne veut pas sortir avec nous.
il
he
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
avec
with
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
vouloir
to want
sortir
to go out
Questions & Answers about Il ne veut pas sortir avec nous.
Why are ne and pas separated here?
In French, to say "not", you put ne before the conjugated verb and pas right after it. Since veut (wants) is the conjugated verb, it gets sandwiched to make ne veut pas (does not want).
Why is the word pas before sortir instead of at the end of the action?
The ne ... pas sandwich only wraps around the conjugated verb (veut). It does not go around the second verb. So you must say ne veut pas sortir rather than putting pas after sortir.
Why isn't sortir conjugated?
When two verbs are used right next to each other, only the first one gets conjugated to match the subject. Since veut is already conjugated for Il, the second verb sortir (to go out) stays in its basic, unchanged dictionary form (the infinitive).
Learn Il ne veut pas sortir avec nous and more in French
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free