Learn Hardcore French: Je n'entends pas le réveil quand je suis trop fatigué. - I do not hear the alarm clock when I am too tired.

You cannot put pas between ne and the verb; ne must come right before the verb, and pas usually comes right after the conjugated verb.

So:

✅ Je n'entends pas.
❌ Je ne pas entends.

Why does ne become n' in je n'entends pas?

Ne becomes n' before a verb that starts with a vowel sound (or a silent h) to make pronunciation smoother. This is called elision.

entends starts with the vowel sound [ɑ̃], so:
- ❌ je ne entends pas
- ✅ je n'entends pas

You do the same with other verbs:

Je n’aime pas ça. (from ne aime)
Je n’habite pas ici. (from ne habite)

In real spoken French, can I drop ne and just say j'entends pas le réveil?

Yes. In informal spoken French, people very often drop ne and keep only pas (or jamais, plus, rien, personne, etc.):

Je n'entends pas le réveil. → formal / neutral
J'entends pas le réveil. → very common in everyday speech

However:

In writing, especially in anything formal or semi-formal, you should keep ne.
In exams, schoolwork, or official documents: always write ne.

What is the difference between entendre and écouter?

Both can be translated with to hear / to listen, but they’re not interchangeable:

entendre = to hear (without necessarily trying)
- Je n'entends pas le réveil. = I don’t hear the alarm (it doesn’t wake me).
écouter = to listen (to), to pay attention to a sound on purpose
- J’écoute la radio. = I’m listening to the radio.

If you said:

Je n’écoute pas le réveil.
It would sound like I’m not listening to the alarm (as if you are choosing to ignore it), which is not the usual idea here. Entendre is the right verb.

Why is it le réveil and not mon réveil or something like l’alarme?

Several options are possible:

le réveil
Literally the alarm (clock). Using le can refer to the alarm clock in the room / your alarm in general, especially when it’s obvious from context.
mon réveil
Emphasizes that it’s my alarm clock.
l’alarme
Grammatically fine, but in everyday French l’alarme is more general (an alarm of any kind: fire alarm, car alarm, etc.). For a wake‑up alarm, people more often say le réveil or le réveil-matin, or l’alarme on a phone but then with context.

All are grammatically correct, but the most natural everyday version here is:

Je n’entends pas le réveil quand je suis trop fatigué.

What exactly does réveil mean here?

Réveil is a noun with two main meanings:

Le réveil = the alarm clock / the wake‑up alarm
- J’ai oublié de mettre mon réveil. = I forgot to set my alarm.
Le réveil = the act of waking up
- Le réveil est difficile le lundi matin. = Waking up is hard on Monday mornings.

In Je n’entends pas le réveil, it clearly means the alarm clock or the alarm sound that wakes you up.

Why is pas placed after entends and not after réveil?

In standard French, the basic position for pas (with simple tenses) is:

ne + conjugated verb + pas

So:

Je n’entends pas le réveil.
→ n’ (ne) + entends (verb) + pas, then the rest (le réveil).

Putting pas after le réveil:

❌ Je n’entends le réveil pas.
is incorrect in modern standard French.

The general rule: with one conjugated verb (present, future, imperfect, etc.), pas goes right after that verb.

Why is quand used here, and not lorsque or si?

quand = when (time-related)
Used very commonly in speech and writing.
lorsque = also when, but a bit more formal / literary. Often interchangeable with quand for time.
si = if, for conditions, not for time.

In this sentence:

Je n'entends pas le réveil quand je suis trop fatigué.
= I don’t hear the alarm when I am too tired. (time: in those situations)

You could also say:

Je n’entends pas le réveil lorsque je suis trop fatigué.
Same meaning, just slightly more formal or written.

You cannot use si here, because this is about when that happens, not about if it happens.

Why is the present tense (je suis) used instead of a future form like je serai?

French often uses the present tense to talk about general truths, repeated situations, or habits, just like English does:

Je n’entends pas le réveil quand je suis trop fatigué.
= Whenever I’m too tired, I don’t hear the alarm. (habitual / general fact)

If you used je serai, it would sound more like a specific future situation:

Je n’entendrai pas le réveil quand je serai trop fatigué.
= I won’t hear the alarm when I am too tired (at some point in the future).

For a general tendency, the present is the natural choice.

Why is it fatigué and not fatiguée? How does this change for a woman?

Fatigué is the masculine singular form of the adjective. It agrees with the subject je:

If je refers to a man:
- Je suis trop fatigué.
If je refers to a woman:
- Je suis trop fatiguée.

So the full sentence would be:

Male speaker: Je n’entends pas le réveil quand je suis trop fatigué.
Female speaker: Je n’entends pas le réveil quand je suis trop fatiguée.

In writing, you show the agreement; in speech, fatigué and fatiguée are pronounced slightly differently, though the final -e is often very subtle in casual speech.

What is the exact nuance of trop in trop fatigué? How is it different from très fatigué?

trop = too / too much / overly, with the idea that it’s excessive or a problem.
- trop fatigué = too tired, so tired that it causes a problem.
très = very, just intensifying the adjective without implying it’s a problem.
- très fatigué = very tired, but not necessarily too tired to function.

In the sentence:

Je n’entends pas le réveil quand je suis trop fatigué.
The idea is: I’m so tired that I don’t wake up; my level of tiredness is excessive.

Could I say Je n’entends pas le réveil quand je suis très fatigué instead? Would the meaning change?

You can say:

Je n’entends pas le réveil quand je suis très fatigué.

It’s grammatically correct and understandable. The nuance changes slightly:

trop fatigué: emphasizes that the tiredness is too much, and that’s why you don’t hear the alarm.
très fatigué: emphasizes that you are very tired; the link to “too tired to hear it” is a bit weaker, more descriptive than causal.

The original with trop makes the cause–effect relationship clearer.

How is the whole sentence pronounced? Are there any silent letters or liaisons?

Pronunciation (in standard French):

Je n'entends pas le réveil quand je suis trop fatigué.
/ʒə n‿ɑ̃tɑ̃ pa lə ʁevɛj kɑ̃ ʒə sɥi tʁo fatiɡe/

Key points:

je: /ʒə/
n'entends: /n‿ɑ̃tɑ̃/
- Final -ds of entends is silent.
- There is a liaison: n’ + entends → /n‿ɑ̃tɑ̃/.
pas: /pa/ (final s silent)
le réveil: /lə ʁevɛj/ (-eil → /ɛj/)
quand: /kɑ̃/ (final -d silent)
je suis: /ʒə sɥi/
trop: usually /tʁo/ (final -p is silent in modern speech before a consonant)
fatigué: /fatiɡe/ (final -é = /e/)

In very casual speech, je ne may sound reduced, close to j’:

Je n’entends pas → something like J’ntends pas.

How would I say “I didn’t hear the alarm when I was too tired” in the past tense?

You would normally use the passé composé for the not-hearing action, and the imparfait for the background state (being too tired):

Je n’ai pas entendu le réveil quand j’étais trop fatigué.
(female speaker: fatiguée)

Breakdown:

Je n’ai pas entendu = I did not hear (passé composé of entendre)
le réveil = the alarm
quand j’étais trop fatigué(e) = when I was too tired (background state, imparfait of être)

This keeps the same structure and logic as the original sentence, but in the past.