Learn French: Je suis innocent, je n'ai attaqué personne ! - I am innocent, I didn't attack anyone!

When using the passé composé, the negative word personne (nobody/anyone) goes after the past participle (attaqué). This is different from words like pas or rien, which go between the helping verb (ai) and the past participle. So, it is je n'ai attaqué personne, whereas it would be je n'ai rien attaqué.

Why isn't there a pas in this sentence? Shouldn't it be je n'ai pas attaqué personne?

In French, personne acts as the second half of the negative structure, replacing pas. Saying je n'ai pas attaqué personne is incorrect, much like a double negative in English. You just use ne (or n') before the helping verb and personne in its correct spot.

Why does it say n'ai instead of ne ai?

The negative word ne drops its e and adds an apostrophe when the next word starts with a vowel or a silent h. Since the helping verb ai starts with a vowel, ne becomes n'.

If a woman were saying this, would the sentence change?