Learn Hardcore French: Elle ne s'inquiète plus de son passé et veut profiter de l'instant présent. - She no longer worries about her past and wants to enjoy the present moment.

ne ... pas = not
- Elle ne s’inquiète pas. = She is not worried / she doesn’t worry.
ne ... plus = no longer / not anymore
- Elle ne s’inquiète plus. = She no longer worries / She doesn’t worry anymore.

So the sentence emphasizes that she used to worry about her past, but not anymore.

What is the role of s' in s’inquiète? Why isn’t it just inquiète?

S’inquiéter is a pronominal (reflexive) verb, written in the infinitive as s’inquiéter.

s’inquiéter (de) = to worry / to worry about
The s’ is a reflexive pronoun (se) that changes with the subject:
- je m’inquiète
- tu t’inquiètes
- il/elle/on s’inquiète
- nous nous inquiétons
- vous vous inquiétez
- ils/elles s’inquiètent

If you said Elle n’inquiète plus de son passé, it would sound wrong: without se, inquiéter usually means to worry someone else:

Cette nouvelle l’inquiète. = This news worries her.

So Elle ne s’inquiète plus = She no longer worries (herself) = She no longer worries.

Why is it ne s’inquiète plus and not ne se inquiète plus?

This is just elision for pronunciation and spelling:

The reflexive pronoun is se.
Before a vowel or mute h, se becomes s’:
- s’inquiète instead of se inquiète
- s’appelle instead of se appelle
- s’habille instead of se habille

French avoids a vowel followed immediately by another vowel in writing and speech by using this apostrophe.

Why is it de son passé and not something like à propos de son passé or pour son passé?

After s’inquiéter, French typically uses the preposition de:

s’inquiéter de quelque chose = to worry about something
- Elle s’inquiète de son passé. = She worries about her past.

Other prepositions would change the structure or sound odd:

à propos de son passé = literally about / regarding her past, but that’s more neutral, not tied to worrying.
pour son passé after s’inquiéter would be incorrect.

So the natural pattern is:

s’inquiéter de + [thing you worry about]

Why is it son passé when elle is feminine? Shouldn’t it be sa?

French possessive adjectives (son / sa / ses) agree with the gender and number of the noun possessed, not with the owner.

passé is a masculine singular noun.
Therefore you must use son (masc. sing.), not sa.

Examples:

son passé (her/his past) — passé is masculine.
sa vie (her/his life) — vie is feminine.
ses souvenirs (her/his memories) — souvenirs is plural.

So son passé can mean her past or his past; context tells you it’s her because of elle.

Why is the verb second: Elle ne s’inquiète plus instead of something like Elle ne plus s’inquiète?

In standard French negation with ne ... plus:

ne goes before the conjugated verb (and before the reflexive pronoun).
plus goes after the conjugated verb.

With a reflexive verb:

Subject + ne + reflexive pronoun + verb + plus

So:

Elle ne s’inquiète plus.
- Elle = subject
- ne = first part of negation
- s’ = reflexive pronoun
- inquiète = verb
- plus = second part of negation

You cannot put plus before the verb in this structure.

In everyday spoken French, do people really say ne s’inquiète plus, or do they drop the ne?

In informal spoken French, people very often drop ne:

Written / careful: Elle ne s’inquiète plus de son passé.
Spoken / casual: Elle s’inquiète plus de son passé.

The meaning is the same (she no longer worries), but be aware that in speech:

plus can sometimes be pronounced:
- like [ply] (with the s silent) for no longer, or
- like [plys] (with the s pronounced) for more
  depending on region and context.

In writing or in formal speech, keep ne: ne s’inquiète plus.

Why is the infinitive profiter used after veut?

The verb vouloir (to want) is followed by an infinitive in French:

vouloir + infinitive = to want to do something

So:

Elle veut profiter de l’instant présent.
= She wants to enjoy the present moment.

Other examples:

Je veux partir. = I want to leave.
Nous voulons apprendre le français. = We want to learn French.

Why is it profiter de l’instant présent and not just profiter l’instant présent?

The verb profiter normally takes de:

profiter de quelque chose = to make the most of / to enjoy something

So the structure is:

profiter de + [noun]

Examples:

profiter du soleil = to enjoy the sun
profiter de ses vacances = to make the most of one’s holidays
profiter de l’instant présent = to enjoy the present moment

Without de, profiter l’instant would be ungrammatical.

Why is it de l’instant présent and not du instant présent?

This is about contractions and vowels:

instant is masculine: le instant → actually written l’instant (elision of le before a vowel).
de + le normally contracts to du:
- de + le livre → du livre
But before a word starting with a vowel or mute h, French uses de l’:
- de + l’instant → de l’instant

So:

de l’instant présent is correct.
du instant présent is incorrect; you can’t have du before a vowel like that.

Why can French omit elle in the second part: et veut profiter...? In English we have to say “and she wants…”

In French, when two verbs share the same subject and are connected by et, you can drop the repeated subject if it stays clear:

Elle ne s’inquiète plus de son passé et veut profiter de l’instant présent.

Here, veut profiter clearly still refers to elle, so repeating elle is optional:

Elle ne s’inquiète plus de son passé et elle veut profiter de l’instant présent.
(also correct, just a bit heavier)

In English, you normally have to repeat the subject:
She no longer worries about her past and wants to enjoy the present moment. → sounds like she is the subject of both verbs, but English still keeps she at least once at the start; French is slightly freer in dropping the second subject.

What tense is s’inquiète and veut, and what nuance does that give compared to a past tense?

Both s’inquiète and veut are in the présent de l’indicatif (present tense).

Elle ne s’inquiète plus... = she no longer worries now.
... et veut profiter... = and she wants to enjoy (now / from now on).

The present tense here expresses:

a current state (she is currently not worrying), and
an ongoing intention (she wants to enjoy the present).

If you used a past tense like passé composé:

Elle ne s’est plus inquiétée de son passé would focus on completed past events (she stopped worrying at some point in the past), not on her current attitude.