Why is "n'ai" (not have) used instead of "nes pas" when saying you're talking about definite age? If i were to say I'm not happy it would be "je ne suis pas heureux", "Je ne suis pas sur"(I'm not sur

Search from various English teachers...

Al Bunty.

Why is "n'ai" (not have) used instead of "nes pas" when saying you're talking about definite age? If i were to say I'm not happy it would be "je ne suis pas heureux", "Je ne suis pas sur"(I'm not sure)..... But when it's about age it's " Je n'ai pas quatre vingt dix ans"(I'm not ninety), "Je n'ai pas deux ans"(I'm not two)..... Is it because the sentence has numbers (2 years, 100 years)? Like a part of the language grammar?

Sep 1, 2022 4:16 PM

Answers · 4

When talking about age in French, you use the verb "avoir". So, "I am twenty five years old" is "J'ai vingt-cinq ans" (literally, "I have 25 years"). When you want to negate that ("I am **not** 25 years old"), you would have to negate avoir. So, you get "Je n'ai pas vingt cinq ans". You wouldn't use "je ne suis pas vingt cinq ans" because that is just not how you say it in French. You use "avoir" and not "être."

September 1, 2022

Still haven’t found your answers?

Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!