Breakdown of Il promet de ne plus nourrir le lézard.
il
he
promettre
to promise
ne... plus
(not) anymore / no longer
de
to (introducing an infinitive after a verb)
nourrir
to feed
le lézard
the lizard
Questions & Answers about Il promet de ne plus nourrir le lézard.
Why are ne and plus placed together instead of around the verb?
When you negate a conjugated verb, the negative words surround it. But when you negate an infinitive verb (like nourrir), both negative words (like ne pas, ne plus, or ne jamais) stay together directly in front of the infinitive.
Why is there a de before ne plus?
In French, many verbs require a specific preposition before a following infinitive. The verb promettre requires de. The structure is always promettre de faire quelque chose (to promise to do something). This preposition comes right after the main verb and before the negative infinitive block.
Is the final s pronounced in the word plus here?
No. When plus is used as part of a negative pair like ne plus (meaning not anymore or no longer), the final s is always silent.
If I wanted to replace le lézard with a pronoun, where would le go?
It would go right before the infinitive, but after the negative words: Il promet de ne plus le nourrir. Object pronouns are placed immediately before the verb they actually apply to, which in this case is the infinitive nourrir.
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