Breakdown of Pourquoi est-ce qu'on n'invite pas le professeur ?
on
one / we (informal)
le professeur
the teacher
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
est-ce que
is it that / do / does (question marker)
pourquoi
why
inviter
to invite
Questions & Answers about Pourquoi est-ce qu'on n'invite pas le professeur ?
Why does on mean "we" here, and why does the verb look singular?
Why is there an apostrophe in qu'on?
Qu'on is a combination of the word que and on. Because on starts with a vowel, the e at the end of que is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe. This helps the words flow together smoothly without two vowel sounds clashing.
Where is the ne for the negative ne ... pas?
Why is the verb translated as "aren't inviting" instead of "don't invite"?
French does not have a separate tense for actions happening right now. The simple present tense in French (like on n'invite pas) covers both "we don't invite" and "we aren't inviting". The English translation just uses whichever version sounds most natural in this context.
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