Breakdown of Tu es censé ne pas offenser les invités.
tu
you (informal singular)
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
l'invité
the guest (m)
être censé
to be supposed to
offenser
to offend
Questions & Answers about Tu es censé ne pas offenser les invités.
How does être censé work here, and does censé change depending on who I am talking to?
The phrase être censé followed by an infinitive expresses an expectation or a theoretical obligation, exactly like "to be supposed to" in English. Because it acts as an adjective, censé must agree in gender and number with the subject. Since it's spelled censé here without an extra "e", we know the tu being addressed is masculine. If you were speaking to a woman, it would be Tu es censée.
Why is it ne pas offenser instead of n'offenser pas?
Could I say Tu n'es pas censé offenser les invités instead? Is there a difference?
Yes, you can, but there is a subtle difference in nuance. Tu n'es pas censé offenser negates the expectation ("You are not supposed to offend"), while Tu es censé ne pas offenser directly negates the action ("You are supposed not to offend"). Just like in English, this sentence makes the expectation a bit stronger—it is actively your duty not to do it. However, in everyday conversation, the two are often used interchangeably.
I have seen the word sensé before. Can I spell it Tu es sensé here?
No, you must use censé. Though they sound identical, they mean entirely different things. Censé means "supposed to" and is almost always followed by an infinitive. Sensé means "sensible" or "reasonable" (like having good sense). Mixing them up is a very common spelling mistake even among native French speakers!
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