Learn French: Il n'a rien fait hier. - He didn't do anything yesterday.

Il n'a rien fait hier.

He didn't do anything yesterday.

Breakdown of Il n'a rien fait hier.

avoir

to have

not (used before the verb)

faire

to do, to make

Questions & Answers about Il n'a rien fait hier.

Why is rien placed before fait instead of at the end of the sentence?

In the passé composé, the negative word rien (nothing/anything) goes between the helper verb (here, a) and the past participle (fait). It acts just like pas. Note that if you were using personne (nobody/anybody), it would go at the very end after the past participle.

Why is there no pas in this sentence?

The word rien takes the place of pas. In French, you pair ne with rien to mean 'not anything' or 'nothing'. If you added pas, it would create an incorrect double negative.

Could this sentence also mean 'He did nothing yesterday'?

Yes! In French, Il n'a rien fait translates to both 'He didn't do anything' and 'He did nothing'. French uses the exact same structure for both English meanings.

Why is it n'a instead of ne a?

The negative particle ne always drops its e and takes an apostrophe when the following word starts with a vowel or a silent h. Here, the helper verb a starts with a vowel.