In English, the word not will change most affirmative sentences into negative sentences. In French, however, it takes two words to form a negative sentence. Do you remember these two words?
They are ne… pas, and they are placed before and after the conjugated verb. If the conjugated verb happens to begin with a vowel, ne will change to n’.
Examples of the negative
Je nage. I swim.
Je ne nage pas. I do not swim.
Tu étudies beaucoup. You study a lot.
Tu n’étudies pas beaucoup. You don’t study a lot.
Nous dînons à six heures du soir. We are having dinner at 6:00 p.m.
Nous ne dînons pas à six heures du soir. We are not having dinner at 6:00 p.m.
Est-ce qu’il vend sa voiture? Is he selling his car?
Est-ce qu’il ne vend pas sa voiture? Isn’t he selling his car?
Indefinite articles
Here is an additional rule to remember when forming negative sentences.
If there happens to be an indefinite article (un, une, des) in the negative sentence, it must be changed to de or d’.
Negatives with indefinite articles
J’ai une soeur. I have a sister.
Je n’ai pas de soeur. I don’t have a sister.
Nous avons des animaux domestiques. We have some pets.
Nous n’avons pas d’animaux domestiques. We don’t have any pets.
Est-ce que tu as un chien? Do you have a dog?
Est-ce que tu n’as pas de chien? Don’t you have a dog?
Ils ont une voiture noire. They have a black car.
Ils n’ont pas de voiture noire. They don’t have a black car.
Reflexive verbs
When using a reflexive verb, the word ne should be placed before the reflexive pronoun, and the word pas should be placed after the conjugated verb.
Negatives and reflexive verbs
Elle se lave les mains. She is washing her hands.
Elle ne se lave pas les mains. She is not washing her hands.
Je me séche les cheveux. I am drying my hair.
Je ne me séche pas les cheveux. I am not drying my hair.
Est-ce que tu te prépares? Are you getting ready?
Est-ce que tu ne te prépares pas? Aren’t you getting ready?
Nous nous maquillons ce matin. We are putting on makeup this morning.
Nous ne nous maquillons pas ce matin. We are not putting on makeup this morning.
Other expressions
Now that you have learned to form negative sentences with ne…pas. Let’s broaden our vocabulary by learning a few more negative expressions. You will use the new expressions in the same way you used ne…pas.
ne…jamais never
ne…plus no longer
*ne…rien nothing / anything
*When using ne…rien, the object will often be dropped.
Je ne nage pas. I do not swim.
Je ne nage jamais. I never swim.
Je ne nage plus. I no longer swim.
Elle n’étudie pas les maths. She is not studying math.
Elle n’étudie jamais les maths. She never studies math.
Elle n’étudie plus les maths. She is no longer studying math.
*Elle n’étudie rien. She is not studying anything.
*Notice that les maths has been dropped. Naturally, if she is studying nothing, then she is not studying math, French, science, history, etc.
Nous ne cherchons pas de cravates.
We are not looking for ties.
Nous ne cherchons jamais de cravates.
We never look for ties.
Nous ne cherchons plus de cravates.
We are no longer looking for ties.
*Nous ne cherchons rien.
We are not looking for anything.
*Notice that de cravates has been dropped because we are not looking for anything.