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Il a attaqué un homme, il est coupable !

Il a attaqué un homme, il est coupable !
He attacked a man, he is guilty!
From Lesson 129:Past tense with negative pronouns (je n'ai rien vu)·French

Breakdown of Il a attaqué un homme, il est coupable !

être
to be
l'homme
the man (m)
il
he
avoir
to have
attaquer
to attack
coupable
guilty

Questions & Answers about Il a attaqué un homme, il est coupable !

Since this lesson is about negative pronouns, how would I say 'He attacked nobody' using this sentence?
You would say Il n'a attaqué personne. Remember that personne (nobody) goes after the past participle (attaqué). If you wanted to say 'He attacked nothing', rien (nothing) would go between the helping verb and the past participle: Il n'a rien attaqué.
Is there a liaison when pronouncing un homme?
Yes! Because homme starts with a silent H, you pronounce the N from un as if it is the first letter of the next word. It blends together to sound like 'un-nomme'.
Why doesn't the past participle attaqué change to match the subject?
Because the helping verb is avoir (a). When using avoir in the passé composé, the past participle does not agree with the subject. It only changes if a direct object comes before the verb. Since the object here (un homme) comes after the verb, attaqué stays in its default form.
The word coupable looks like the English word 'culpable'. Are they related?
Yes, they share the same origin! While 'culpable' is a formal word in English meaning deserving blame, coupable is the standard, everyday French word for 'guilty'.

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