Marie n'est pas jalouse; elle fait confiance à Paul.

Breakdown of Marie n'est pas jalouse; elle fait confiance à Paul.

être
to be
Paul
Paul
Marie
Marie
elle
she
ne ... pas
not
jaloux
jealous
faire confiance à
to trust
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How does grammatical gender work in French?
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).

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Questions & Answers about Marie n'est pas jalouse; elle fait confiance à Paul.

Why do we say n'est pas instead of just est pas?

In standard French, the basic way to make a verb negative is ne … pas around the conjugated verb:

  • Marie est jalouse.Marie n’est pas jalouse.

You cannot say Marie est pas jalouse in correct written French; you must include ne (which becomes n’ here) and pas.
(Spoken, informal French often drops ne, but learners should keep ne … pas for now.)

Where do ne and pas go in relation to the subject and the verb?

In simple tenses, the pattern is:

Subject + ne + conjugated verb + pas + rest of the sentence

In this sentence:

  • Marie (subject)
  • n’ (ne, before a vowel)
  • est (conjugated verb être)
  • pas
  • jalouse (adjective)

So you get: Marie n’est pas jalouse.

For the second clause, if it were negative, it would be:

  • Elle ne fait pas confiance à Paul.
Why do we write n’est and not ne est?

This is elision. When ne comes before a word that starts with a vowel or a mute h, the e of ne is dropped and replaced by an apostrophe:

  • ne estn’est
  • ne habite pasn’habite pas

So Marie ne est pas jalouse is incorrect; it must be Marie n’est pas jalouse.

Why is it jalouse and not jaloux here?

The adjective has to agree in gender with the subject:

  • jaloux = masculine singular
  • jalouse = feminine singular

Marie is grammatically feminine, so the adjective must be jalouse:

  • Marie n’est pas jalouse.
  • Paul n’est pas jaloux.
How would the adjective change with masculine or plural subjects?

The forms of jaloux / jalouse are:

  • Masculine singular: jaloux
    • Paul n’est pas jaloux.
  • Feminine singular: jalouse
    • Marie n’est pas jalouse.
  • Masculine plural: jaloux (same spelling as singular, different pronunciation in context)
    • Ils ne sont pas jaloux.
  • Feminine plural: jalouses
    • Elles ne sont pas jalouses.
Why does French say elle fait confiance à Paul to mean she trusts Paul?

French often uses verb + noun where English uses a single verb.
Here the pattern is:

  • faire confiance à quelqu’un = to trust someone

Literally, it is like saying she makes trust to Paul, but it is idiomatic French for she trusts Paul.

So you must keep the whole expression faire confiance à; you do not normally use a single verb like English trust.

What is the grammatical structure of elle fait confiance à Paul?

Breakdown:

  • elle = subject pronoun
  • fait = 3rd person singular of faire
  • confiance = feminine noun (direct object of faire)
  • à Paul = indirect object introduced by à

So the structure is:

subject + faire + confiance + à + person

Example variations:

  • Je fais confiance à Marie.
  • Nous faisons confiance à nos amis.
Why is the preposition à used before Paul? Could we use en?

With faire confiance, the standard construction is:

  • faire confiance à quelqu’un

So you must use à: elle fait confiance à Paul.

There is another expression:

  • avoir confiance en quelqu’un = also to trust someone

Example:

  • Elle a confiance en Paul.

So:

  • faire confiance à Paul
  • avoir confiance en Paul

Both are correct, but the preposition changes with the verb: à goes with faire confiance, en goes with avoir confiance.

Can we replace à Paul with a pronoun? Which pronoun do we use?

Yes. Paul is an indirect object introduced by à, so you replace à Paul with lui:

  • Elle fait confiance à Paul.Elle lui fait confiance.

Note that you do not use le here:

  • Elle le fait confiance. ❌ (incorrect)
  • Elle lui fait confiance. ✅ (correct)
How would we make the second clause negative: she does not trust Paul?

You use ne … pas around the conjugated verb fait:

  • Elle fait confiance à Paul.
  • Elle ne fait pas confiance à Paul.

So the full negative sentence could be:

  • Marie n’est pas jalouse; elle ne fait pas confiance à Paul.
    (Marie is not jealous; she does not trust Paul.)
Why is there a semicolon ; instead of a comma or a word like mais (but) or parce que (because)?

In French, a semicolon ; is used between two closely related but independent clauses:

  • Marie n’est pas jalouse = complete sentence
  • elle fait confiance à Paul = complete sentence

Using ; shows a clear link between the two ideas without adding an explicit connector.

Other acceptable options (with slightly different style):

  • Marie n’est pas jalouse, elle fait confiance à Paul. (comma; common, but heavier style guides often prefer ; or a conjunction)
  • Marie n’est pas jalouse, car elle fait confiance à Paul.
  • Marie n’est pas jalouse parce qu’elle fait confiance à Paul.
  • Marie n’est pas jalouse : elle fait confiance à Paul. (colon; also common)
Can we drop the subject pronoun in the second clause, and say …; fait confiance à Paul?

No. In French, the subject pronoun is normally required; you cannot drop it as in some languages.

So:

  • …; elle fait confiance à Paul.
  • …; fait confiance à Paul. ❌ (sounds like an imperative or an incomplete sentence)

Each clause needs its own explicit subject (unless it is a special case like an imperative command).

Is it possible to say Marie est pas jalouse in spoken French?

In everyday informal speech, many native speakers drop ne and say:

  • Marie est pas jalouse.
  • Elle fait pas confiance à Paul.

This is very common in conversation, but it is not considered correct in formal or written French.
As a learner, you should:

  • Use ne … pas in writing and in exams:
    • Marie n’est pas jalouse.
  • Recognize the spoken form without ne, but avoid using it until you are comfortable with register differences.