# FR: by not looking at him



## Winnifred

Pourrait quelqu'un corriger cette phrase pour moi??

Je veux dire "he annoyed the teacher by not looking at him"  Je m'intéresse en particulier au placement de <ne pas>

Dirait-on "Il a dérangé le prof en ne pas le regardant"?  Pourrait-on dire "Il a dérangé le prof en ne le regardant pas"?

MERCI


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## Lacuzon

Bonsoir,

Both are correct, the second one is more commmon.


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## Maître Capello

Lacuzon said:


> the second one is more commmon.


This is an understatement. The first one sounds really weird!

In French, unless the verb is in the infinitive, the negation (here _pas_) should always go right after the verb, not before.

_en *ne* le regardant *pas*_
_Il__ *ne* le regarde *pas*_.
_*Ne* le regarde *pas* !_

but: _pour *ne pas* le regarder_


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## timboleicester

Excuse me for adding my 2p's worth but shouldn't there be a "*par*" somewhere in this sentence or am I wrong and that "en ne le regardant pas" means "by not looking at him"


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## jann

No, no _par_ is required here.  The _gérondif_ form is sufficient, so _en ne le regardant pas_ does in and of itself mean "by not looking at him" in this context.


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## timboleicester

So how is this distinguished from "......while not looking at him" >?


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## Winnifred

Good question - I think "en regardant" can mean either "while looking" or "by looking" depending on the context.
Maybe one should say "tout en regardant" to get the idea "while". 

MERCI à tous pour vos réponses!


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## timboleicester

My French friend suggests changing it round to " ..en regardant ailleurs" adding that we french do things the other way round to you british....I know don't ask!


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## Lacuzon

Maître Capello said:


> This is an understatement. The first one sounds really weird!
> 
> In French, unless the verb is in the infinitive, the negation (here _pas_) should always go right after the verb, not before.
> 
> _en *ne* le regardant *pas*_
> _Il__ *ne* le regarde *pas*_.
> _*Ne* le regarde *pas* !_
> 
> but: _pour *ne pas* le regarder_



So maybe it's a regionalism because _c'est en ne pas se levant trop tard que l'on profite le mieux d'une journée _does not sound weird to me. I use that kind of negation with both infinitive and gerundive.


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## Oddmania

timboleicester said:


> So how is this distinguished from "......while not looking at him" >?



The thing is we don't distinguish them! 

_En le regardant _:

_Looking at him
By looking at him
Upon looking at him
While looking at him.

_


Lacuzon said:


> So maybe it's a regionalism because _c'est en ne pas se levant trop tard que l'on profite le mieux d'une journée _does not sound weird to me. I use that kind of negation with both infinitive and gerundive.



Je pense que _C'est en *ne pas* se levant trop tard_ est une forme d'insistance, alors que _C'est en ne *se *levant *pas *trop tard_ voudrait dire_ not too late_ (ce qui implique qu'un peu tard, ça passe encore, mais trop tard, ça ne passe plus)


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## Maître Capello

timboleicester said:


> So how is this distinguished from "......while not looking at him" >?





Oddmania said:


> The thing is we don't distinguish them!


We do!

Gérondif: _*en* ne le regardant pas_ → *by* not looking at him

Participe présent: _ne le regardant pas_ (no _en_!) → *while* not looking at him


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## Oddmania

Maître Capello said:


> We do!
> 
> Gérondif: _*en* ne le regardant pas_ → *by* not looking at him
> 
> Participe présent: _ne le regardant pas_ (no _en_!) → *while* not looking at him



Effectivement, mais pas dans tout les cas, il me semble!

_Il parle *en *marchant_ → _He is speaking while walking_.


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## Maître Capello

Oddmania said:


> Effectivement, mais pas dans tout les cas, il me semble!


Oui, tout à fait. Je ne parlais que de l'exemple donné.


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## geostan

Maître Capello said:


> Oui, tout à fait. Je ne parlais que de l'exemple donné.



I would use *en*, whether the meaning is *by, on, in* or *while*. It creates a kind of adverbial phrase. Without it, the present participle seems more adjectival.


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## Maître Capello

It indeed depends on the exact example and context you have in mind… At any rate, if meaning _*while* not looking at him_, the most natural way to put it would be simply _sans le regarder_.

As we're drifting away from the original question a bit too much, if you want to discuss this further, I suggest you open a new thread.

Maître Capello
as member and moderator


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