Breakdown of Nous observons les loups négligeant le danger.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
les
them (direct object pronoun)
le loup
the wolf
Questions & Answers about Nous observons les loups négligeant le danger.
Why doesn't négligeant have an "s" at the end to match the plural les loups?
Because here, négligeant is a present participle (participe présent), not a verbal adjective. You can tell it's acting as an active verb because it takes a direct object (le danger). Present participles are invariable in French, meaning they never add an "s" or "e" to agree with the noun they relate to.
Is there a verbal adjective form of this word that would agree with les loups?
Yes! The verbal adjective is négligent (meaning "careless" or "negligent"). Notice the spelling change from -ant to -ent. If you removed the object (le danger) to merely describe the wolves' character, you would use the verbal adjective and make it agree: Nous observons les loups négligents (We observe the careless wolves).
Why is there an extra "e" before the "a" in négligeant?
It is there for pronunciation. Verbs ending in -ger (like négliger, manger, partager) must keep the e before the letters a or o. This keeps the "g" sounding soft (like the "s" in "measure"). If it were spelled négligant, it would be pronounced with a hard "g" (like in "go"). Note that the verbal adjective négligent doesn't need the extra "e" because "g" naturally stays soft before an "e".