Breakdown of Mon collègue essaie de ne pas nourrir le perroquet le soir.
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
le collègue
the colleague
mon
my (mon, ma, mes)
essayer
to try
le soir
the evening
de
to (introducing an infinitive after a verb)
le perroquet
the parrot
nourrir
to feed
Questions & Answers about Mon collègue essaie de ne pas nourrir le perroquet le soir.
Why are ne and pas right next to each other here?
When negating a conjugated verb, ne and pas go on either side of it. But when negating an infinitive (an unconjugated verb like nourrir), both parts of the negative stay together right before the verb: ne pas nourrir.
Why is there a de before ne pas?
In French, the verb essayer requires the preposition de when it is followed by another verb. The structure is always essayer de plus an infinitive verb.
Could I put de between ne and pas, like ne de pas nourrir?
No, the negative block ne pas must stay completely unbroken before the infinitive. The preposition de belonging to essayer must come before the entire negative block: de ne pas nourrir.
Why is it le soir instead of using a preposition for in the evening?
To say in the morning, in the afternoon, or in the evening, French simply uses the definite article (le) plus the time of day: le matin, l'après-midi, le soir. Using le here also implies this is a habitual rule, meaning every evening.
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