Nous n'avons pas expliqué le projet parce que nous n'avons pas eu le temps.

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?
In the passé composé, ne (or n') and pas act like a sandwich around the helper verb, which is avons in this sentence. The past participles expliqué and eu come right after pas.
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.
Why does the French sentence use le temps when the English translation just says time?
In French, nouns almost always need an article (like le, la, or les) in front of them, even when talking about a general concept like time. So, to say we didn't have time, you say nous n'avons pas eu le temps.

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