Learn French: Je n'ai vu personne avec une quarantaine de sacs. - I didn't see anyone with about forty bags.

Je n'ai vu personne avec une quarantaine de sacs.

I didn't see anyone with about forty bags.

Breakdown of Je n'ai vu personne avec une quarantaine de sacs.

Questions & Answers about Je n'ai vu personne avec une quarantaine de sacs.

How do you form a word like quarantaine from a number?

You take the number quarante (forty), drop the final -e, and add the suffix -aine. This suffix turns an exact number into a noun of approximation, meaning "about forty". These approximative numbers are always feminine, which is why it uses une.

Why is there a de before sacs? Can I just say une quarantaine sacs?

No, you need the de. Because words ending in -aine are technically nouns of quantity (just like un kilo or une boîte), you must use de (of) to connect them to the noun they are measuring. Literally, you are saying "a forty-ish of bags".

Why does personne come after vu? Don't negative words usually go before the past participle?

Most negative words (like pas, jamais, or rien) do go between the helper verb (ai) and the past participle (vu). However, personne is a major exception! It acts more like a physical noun in the sentence, so it is placed after the past participle: Je n'ai vu personne.

Why is there no pas in this negative sentence?

Ne ... personne is a complete two-part negative structure meaning "no one" or "not anyone". You drop the pas when using it, just like you do with ne ... jamais (never) or ne ... rien (nothing).