Breakdown of Le touriste connaît ce pays, mais il ne sait pas conduire ici.
il
he
ici
here
mais
but
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
ce
this (before a noun)
le pays
the country
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
savoir
to know (a fact), to know how to
connaître
to know (be familiar with)
le touriste
the tourist
conduire
to drive
Questions & Answers about Le touriste connaît ce pays, mais il ne sait pas conduire ici.
Why do we use connaît in the first half but sait in the second half, if both mean "know"?
Why is there no French word for "how to" in il ne sait pas conduire?
You don't need one! In French, using the verb savoir directly before an infinitive verb (like conduire) automatically translates to knowing "how to" do that action.
The word pays ends in an 's'. Why does it use the singular ce instead of the plural ces?
Why does ne ... pas go around sait instead of conduire?
When you make a sentence negative, ne and pas always act like a sandwich around the conjugated verb. In this sentence, sait is the conjugated verb that matches the subject il, while conduire is in its unchanged dictionary (infinitive) form. Therefore, the negative words must go around sait.
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