French Negation: How To Make Negative Sentences

Negation is something every French beginner will need to learn early on (obviously!).
Learning verbs is one thing, but how do you say you're not doing something? đ
Thankfully, in French it's super easy!
But it works a little differently to English. I'll explain.
Expressing negation in French
French takes a two-part modifier to indicate a negative statement.Â
The most common of these two-part modifiers is "ne... pas".
"Ne... point" can be used interchangeably with "ne... pas" but the former indicates emphasis:
Je nâen veux pas (I donât want any)Â
vs.
Je nâen veux point (I really donât want any)
For simple tenses in French, the two-part modifiers surround the verb:Â
Je ne vois pas grand chose (I donât see much of anything)Â
Vous nâĂȘtes pas sur la liste (You are not on the list)
For compound tenses in French, the two-part negating modifier splits the auxiliary and the past participle of the verb:
Tu nâavais pas amené dâargent (You had not brought any money)Â
Elles ne sont pas rentrées hier soir (They did not return last night)
Negation Modifiers | |
---|---|
French | English |
neâŠplus | notâŠanymore |
neâŠrien | notâŠanything |
neâŠjamais | never |
neâŠpersonne | notâŠanyone |
neâŠpas encore | not yet |
Examples:
La cloche ne sonne plus (The bell does not ring anymore)
Les ours polaires ne mangent rien lâhiver (Polar bears donât eat anything during the winter)
Nous nâĂ©tions jamais allĂ© voir un match (We had never gone to see a match)
Vous nâenviez personne (You donât envy anyone)
Tu nâas pas encore fait tes devoirs (You havenât done your homework yet)
There may be cases where a French verb is followed by an infinitive:
Tu fais (verb) rĂ©pĂ©ter (infinitive) tes Ă©lĂšves (You make your students rehearse)Â
In this case, personne follows the infinitive:
Tu ne fais (verb) rĂ©pĂ©ter (infinitive) personne (You donât make anyone rehearse)
Ne can also be used with que and guĂšre.Â
In these instances, the meaning conveyed is not one of negation.Â
Ne with que means only; ne with guÚre means hardly/barely.
Ne + Que or GuĂšre
ne... guĂšre / hardly, barely:Â
Je ne bois guÚre de café (I hardly drink any coffee)
ne... que / only:Â
On ne regarde que lui (People only look at him)
Que doesnât necessarily follow right after the verb.Â
Instead, it comes after the verb and right in front of the words being emphasized:
Je nâai arrĂȘtĂ© de mâinquiĂ©ter que lorsquâelle est revenue (I stopped worrying only when she came back)
In everyday conversations, the ne is often omitted.Â
This is acceptable among friends and family but is frowned upon in more formal settings.
Examples:
Je nâai pas envie (I donât want to)
Vous ne savez pas (You donât know)
Il ne rĂ©pond pas (He doesnât answer)