Breakdown of Le douanier confisque la drogue et ne la laisse pas passer.
et
and
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
la
her, it (feminine direct object pronoun)
passer
to pass by / go past
laisser
to leave (something or someone)
le douanier
the customs officer
la drogue
the drug
confisquer
to confiscate
Questions & Answers about Le douanier confisque la drogue et ne la laisse pas passer.
Why is the pronoun la placed before laisse instead of before passer?
With the laisser + infinitive structure (meaning "to let [someone/something] do something"), the object pronoun goes right before the conjugated verb laisser, not before the infinitive. Here, la stands for la drogue, so it becomes la laisse passer.
How does the negation ne ... pas wrap around the verb and pronoun here?
The negative markers ne and pas always wrap around the conjugated verb and any object pronouns attached to the front of it. Because the pronoun la is stuck to the front of laisse, the ne has to go before both of them, giving us ne la laisse pas.
The English translation says "let it through", but the French just uses passer. Why is there no word for "through"?
The French verb passer inherently means "to pass", "to cross", or "to go through". French frequently uses a single verb where English uses a verb plus a preposition. In a border or checkpoint context like this, laisser passer completely covers the idea of "letting [something] through".
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