By the end of this lesson you'll be able to make any sentence negative, say what you don't like and don't do, and use pas de to say you don't have something.
Two words around the verb
English makes a sentence negative with "not" or "don't". French uses two small words that wrap around the verb like a sandwich: ne before it and pas after it.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ne … pas | nuh … PAH | not (around the verb) |
| n' … pas | n … PAH | not (before a vowel or silent h) |
| pas de / pas d' | pah DUH / pah D | no, not any (replaces un, une, des) |
Take any verb you know, such as those in the lesson on regular -er verbs, and add the two words. There's no separate word for "do".
Nous ne regardons pas la télé.
We're not watching TV.
Je ne travaille pas à Bordeaux.
I don't work in Bordeaux.
Like je, the word ne shortens before a vowel or silent h. It becomes n'.
Elle n'habite pas ici.
She doesn't live here.
With the verbs you use most
Être and avoir work in exactly the same way. Here are the negative forms you'll use constantly, including the ones you were missing in the lesson on likes and dislikes.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| je ne suis pas | zhuh nuh swee PAH | I'm not |
| ce n'est pas | suh neh PAH | it isn't, that isn't |
| je n'ai pas / il n'a pas | zhuh nay PAH / eel nah PAH | I don't have / he doesn't have |
| je n'aime pas | zhuh nem PAH | I don't like |
| il n'y a pas de | eel nyah pah DUH | there isn't any, there aren't any |
Remember that ai, as, a, avons, avez and ont are forms of avoir, and they all start with a vowel, so ne always becomes n' with this verb: tu n'as pas, nous n'avons pas.
When there's a second verb, the negative goes around the first one, and the infinitive comes after: Je n'aime pas cuisiner (I don't like cooking).
Je n'aime pas la pizza.
I don't like pizza.
Un, une, des become de
Here's the one change that makes negatives tricky. You know un, une and des from the lesson on un, une and des. After a negative verb, all three usually change to de, or d' before a vowel or silent h. The noun itself doesn't change.
- J'ai un sac. → Je n'ai pas de sac. (I don't have a bag.)
- Tu as une clé ? → Tu n'as pas de clé ? (You don't have a key?)
- Il y a des chaises. → Il n'y a pas de chaises. (There aren't any chairs.)
- Elle a des amis. → Elle n'a pas d'amis. (She doesn't have any friends.)
This is the same thing as saying "no" or "not any" in English. If you're saying that something doesn't exist or isn't there, use pas de.
Il n'y a pas de téléphone ici.
There's no phone here.
Nous n'avons pas d'ordinateur.
We don't have a computer.
Le, la, les and être don't change
Two things stay as they are.
Le, la, l' and les never change. That's why you say Je n'aime pas le café, keeping the same article as J'aime le café.
After être, un, une and des don't change. You're saying what something isn't, not that it's missing: C'est un stylo becomes Ce n'est pas un stylo.
Ce n'est pas une maison, c'est un café !
It's not a house, it's a café!
Putting it together
Here's a person answering questions about themselves. Notice how each answer follows one of the patterns.
- Tu parles italien ? — Non, je ne parle pas italien. (Do you speak Italian? — No, I don't speak Italian.)
- Tu aimes les chats ? — Non, je n'aime pas les chats. (Do you like cats? — No, I don't like cats.)
- Tu as une voiture ? — Non, je n'ai pas de voiture. (Do you have a car? — No, I don't have a car.)
What's next
Next, the lesson on -ir and -re verbs gives you two more verb families to make negative. To go further later on, the lesson on negative expressions covers words like "never" and "nothing". If être or avoir still feel shaky, try making some of your own sentences negative with the lesson on être and the lesson on avoir.