Pronouns and Negation

Level 3

Pronoun, verb, pas: Lo vesi pas.

How It Works

PositiveNegative
Lo vesi.Lo vesi pas.
Li parli.Li parli pas.
Me veses.Me veses pas.
Te cresi.Te cresi pas.

The order is always pronoun, verb, pas. The pronoun and the verb stay together.

In the compound past, the auxiliary is the verb that takes pas, and the pronoun stays before it: L'ai pas vist. The participle comes last.

French puts the negative ne before the pronoun. Occitan has no such word.

The same order holds in a question and in a short answer: Me veses pas? Do you not see me? Lo vesi pas. No, I do not see him.

Examples (5)

  1. Lo vesi pas.

    I do not see him.

    Pas follows the verb vesi.

  2. Li parli pas.

    I do not speak to him.

    The pronoun li stays before the verb.

  3. Me veses pas?

    Do you not see me?

    Me stays first, and pas follows veses.

  4. Te cresi pas.

    I do not believe you.

    Te stays before cresi.

  5. L'ai pas vist.

    I have not seen him.

    L' stays before ai, and pas follows it.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting pas first.

    Pas lo vesi.
    Lo vesi pas.

    Pas follows the verb. It never comes before the pronoun.

  • Putting the pronoun after the verb.

    Vesi lo pas.
    Lo vesi pas.

    In a statement, the pronoun stays before the verb.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Pronouns and NegationLevel 3

Learn This First

A pronoun before the verb is followed by pas, so object pronouns and negation come first.

Words in This Pattern

pas