Word
Nous n'avons pas expliqué le projet parce que nous n'avons pas eu le temps.
Meaning
We did not explain the project because we did not have time.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Nous n'avons pas expliqué le projet parce que nous n'avons pas eu le temps.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
avoir
to have
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
Questions & Answers about Nous n'avons pas expliqué le projet parce que nous n'avons pas eu le temps.
Where do the negative words ne and pas go in the passé composé?
Why is it written as n'avons instead of ne avons?
In French, when ne is followed by a word starting with a vowel, like the helper verb avons, the e is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe. This makes it flow better when speaking.
What verb does the word eu come from?
eu is the irregular past participle of the verb avoir (to have). Even though it looks completely different from the infinitive, nous n'avons pas eu simply means we did not have.