Breakdown of Je n'ai rien entendu, j'ai un alibi.
je
I
avoir
to have
ne
not (used before the verb)
entendre
to hear
rien
nothing
l'alibi
the alibi (m)
Questions & Answers about Je n'ai rien entendu, j'ai un alibi.
Why does rien come before entendu instead of at the end of the sentence?
In the passé composé (a past tense with two parts), short negative words like rien (nothing) sandwich the helper verb. The pattern is ne + helper verb (ai) + rien + past participle (entendu).
If I wanted to say 'I heard no one', would the word order be exactly the same?
Is entendre a regular verb? How did we get entendu?
Yes, entendre (to hear) is a regular -re verb. To form its past participle for the passé composé, you drop the -re and add -u, giving you entendu.
Why is it n'ai instead of ne ai?
Because ai starts with a vowel. In French, the negative word ne always drops its e and uses an apostrophe when the next word starts with a vowel or a silent h. This makes the sentence flow more smoothly.
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