Negation in French

Negation is one of the most important parts of any language. But when it comes to negation in French, it’s also an area where many learners struggle.

That’s because the word for not in French is actually two words: ne and pas. Figuring out where each of these words goes in a sentence can take some getting used to. Furthermore, sometimes you’ll see one but not the other. And sometimes pas will be replaced with a different word, like jamais or rien.

This blog covers the rules which determine how to express negation in different circumstances. Learning these rules is key to making sense of negation, and being able to express negative statements in French.

The most common way to express negation in French is with the adverbial phrase ne…pas. These words frame the verb which you want to make negative, as in the following examples:

Je n’aime pas manger de légumes. - I don’t like to eat vegetables.

Ils ne boivent pas d’alcool. - They don’t drink alcohol.

If you’re using an object pronoun, or more than one, this comes after ne, as in the following examples:

Il ne m’aime pas vraiment. - He doesn’t really like me.

Ne me le donnez pas. - Don’t give it to me.

For the passé composé, ne…pas must frame the auxiliary verb, not the past participle. Again, if the phrase uses object pronouns, these must come after ne:

Nous ne vous avons pas vus. - We didn’t see you.

Le professeur n’a pas corrigé les devoirs. - The teacher didn’t mark homework.

As you can see in the example above, ne undergoes elision when followed by a verb that begins with a vowel or silent h.

Sometimes ne is used with another word to express a different kind of negation.

Il n’y a personne qui puisse m’aider. - There’s no one who can help me.

Je ne connais personne ici. - I don’t know anybody here.

Mon ami est enrhumé, il ne sent rien. - My friend has a cold, he can’t smell anything.

Il n’y a rien dans cette valise. - There is nothing in this suitcase.

Ce magasin n’est jamais ouvert. - That shop is never open.

Je ne suis jamais allé en Pologne. - I have never been to Poland.

Elle ne peut plus jouer à la pétanque depuis qu’elle s’est cassé le poignet. - She can’t play pétanque any longer after she broke her wrist.

Il ne pleut plus. - It’s not raining any more.

Sometimes, particularly in informal speech, the ‘ne’ is dropped entirely. In these cases, keep an ear out for the additional word - pas, jamais, rien, etc. - to tell whether the statement is positive or negative.

Honnêtement, je sais pas. - To be honest, I don't know.

J'ai rien fait. - I did nothing.

Sometimes ne is used for emphasis, rather than to turn a statement negative. This is commonly the case after certain verbs, such as craindre and redouter and certain conjunctions, such as avant que and à moins que.

To learn more, be sure to read our blog on the ne explétif.