Ça prouve qu'il n'a rencontré personne !

Questions & Answers about Ça prouve qu'il n'a rencontré personne !

Why is personne placed after the past participle rencontré?
In the passé composé, most negative words like rien (nothing) go between the helper verb (a) and the past participle (rencontré). However, personne (nobody/anyone) is an exception! It must go after the past participle. This is why we say il n'a rencontré personne instead of putting it in the middle.
Where is the pas in this negative sentence?
When you use the negative structure ne ... personne (nobody / not anyone), you drop the pas. The word personne acts as the second half of the negative sandwich, so you never use pas and personne together.
The translation says "didn't meet anyone". Can personne mean "anyone" as well as "nobody"?
Yes! In French, il n'a rencontré personne literally means "he met nobody". In English, it is often more natural to say "he didn't meet anyone", but both translations mean the exact same thing and use this same French structure.
Why does the sentence use qu'il instead of que il?
The word que (that) always drops its -e and adds an apostrophe when the following word starts with a vowel or a silent H. Since il starts with a vowel, que il becomes qu'il to make the sentence flow smoothly.

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