When not to say 'ne' in French

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When expressing a negative statement in French, we generally use not one but two words: ne and pas.

This can confuse learners for a few reasons. First of all, ne and pas aren't used in succession but must frame the main verb (Je ne mange pas de bananes - 'I don't eat bananas'). Secondly, pas can be replaced with words such as jamais or rien depending on what kind of negative statement you want to make (more on this in our blog on negation in French). And perhaps most confusing of all is the fact that sometimes 'ne' disappears altogether.

If you're one of the learners who finds this type of negation confusing - and even more confusing when we don't use it - then worry not, as this blog will explain why and when we drop the ne in French.

Historically, the word ne in French functioned in much the same way as the word 'not' does in English. If you wanted to say 'I don't want to go to sleep', for instance, you would simply say Je ne veux aller dormir.

Around the 12th and 13th centuries, however, French speakers began to add extra words for emphasis at the end of negative statements. A common one was pas. Initially, pas, meaning 'step', was used in the context of walking: Je ne marche pas ('I don't walk even a single step'). It was a catchy of doubling down on the negation.

However, the adverbial form of pas gradually found its way into other contexts as a way of expressing emphasis. By the 15th century onwards it had become so widespread that it was more normal to use pas than not when making a negative statement. The word for 'step' no longer carried special emphasis, and simply became the standard way of expressing negativity, as an adjunct to ne.

There are some contexts in which we can use 'ne' by itself, without the addition of a negative adverb like pas/jamais etc.:

1. In literary contexts

Sometimes 'ne' can be used by itself in lieu of 'ne…pas', but this is considered somewhat old-fashioned.

Example:

Aucun vent ne sert celui qui ne sait à quel port il veut aller. ('No wind serves him who addresses his voyage to no certain port.') - Michel de Montaigne

2. The ne explétif

Sometimes we use the word ne with certain clauses or verbs that have negative connotations, without actually turning the phrase negative. Check out our blog for more info on the ne explétif.

Example:

Il craint qu'il ne pleuve - 'He worries that it will rain'

On the other hand, nowadays it's not uncommon for French speakers to express negativity by simply using pas (or rien, or jamais, etc.) without even using ne. This represents an interesting evolution of language known as Jespersen's cycle. While using ne on its own is now considered formal or archaic, using pas on its own on the other hand is increasingly common in colloquial contexts

In 1917, the Danish linguist Otto Jespersen published Negation in English and Other Languages, in which he outlined the curious development of negation around the world. Jespersen noticed that some languages had developed a pattern of expressing negativity which began with a pre-verbal marker of negation (such as the word 'not' in English), before later accruing a post-verbal marker of negation and, in some cases, losing the first word altogether. To put it more simply, ne invited pas up onto the stage, and now pas is returning the favour by kicking ne off the stage altogether.

This pattern isn't particularly widespread, and where it does exist, it's mainly confined to the colloquial version of a spoken language, whether that's Brazilian Portuguese, the Western Lombard dialect of Italian or - you guessed it - French.

As mentioned above, dropping the ne from a negative statement is considered quite informal. It's the kind of thing you're likely to hear - or, more accurately, not hear - in spoken conversation, or in pop or rap music, less so in a job interview or a newspaper column.

In other words, it's never wrong to use ne + pas. But it is often considered wrong, or at least the wrong register, to drop ne completely. It's therefore safer for learners to stick to ne + pas, as we teach it in the Complete French Course.

That said, it's still a good idea to be aware that many speakers will often drop the ne, as this will both help you to avoid confusion (is the statement negative or not?) and to understand what kind of French is being spoken (formal vs informal).

Common examples:

Je sais pas/J'sais pas - 'I don't know

Tu as pas compris/T'as pas compris - 'You didn't understand'

Elle veut pas manger - 'She doesn't want to eat'