Je n'ai pas volé la voiture. Je le jure !

Questions & Answers about Je n'ai pas volé la voiture. Je le jure !

Why is the pronoun le used in the second sentence instead of la, since la voiture is feminine?
Here, le is acting as a neuter pronoun. It isn't replacing the noun la voiture. Instead, it replaces the entire previous idea: 'that I didn't steal the car'. When you replace a whole clause or concept, you always use the masculine singular pronoun le.
Can I just say Je jure ! the same way we say 'I swear!' in English?
In English, we often drop the 'it', but French strongly prefers having a direct object for verbs like jurer, savoir, and croire when referring to an established fact. Using the neuter le provides that necessary object: 'I swear it'.
I thought the verb voler meant 'to fly'. Why does it mean 'steal' here?
The French verb voler actually means both 'to fly' and 'to steal'! You always have to rely on context to know which meaning is intended. Since you cannot easily fly a car, 'steal' is the clear translation here.
Just to review, why does pas come before volé in the first sentence?
This sentence uses the passé composé. In this compound past tense, the negative words ne and pas always go around the conjugated helper verb (ai), not the main action verb (volé).

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