Learn French: Tu n'as pas laissé de pourboire.

Tu n'as pas laissé de pourboire.

You did not leave a tip.

Breakdown of Tu n'as pas laissé de pourboire.

you (informal singular)

avoir

to have

not (used before the verb)

pas

not (used after the verb)

Questions & Answers about Tu n'as pas laissé de pourboire.

Why is it de pourboire instead of un pourboire?

In French, indefinite articles (un, une, des) change to de (or d') when the verb is negative. Since the action of leaving a tip is negative here (tu n'as pas laissé), you must use de pourboire instead of un pourboire.

How do the negative words ne and pas work with the past tense here?

In the passé composé (the past tense used here), the negation wraps around the helper verb, not the main action word. Here, n' and pas surround the helper verb as (have), and the past participle laissé (left) comes right after.

How would I add advice to this sentence using tu devrais?

To follow this up by telling someone they should leave a tip, you would say Tu devrais laisser un pourboire. Notice that since this new sentence is positive, we go back to using the article un instead of de!

Does the word pourboire literally mean "for drinking"?

Yes! It is a combination of pour (for) and boire (to drink). Historically, a tip was a small amount of extra money given to a worker so they could buy themselves a drink.