What are the French negation rules?

The most basic form of French negation is wrapping ne…pas around a verb: “Je ne parle pas” (I don’t speak). However, there are many other negations such as ne…jamais (never) and ne…rien (nothing). This post provides a comprehensive guide to French negation by explaining 15 rules with example sentences and audio.

Je ne parle pas français.

I don’t speak French.

French negation in the present tense

In the present tense, negation is formed by wrapping ne…pas around the verb. You can think of this as the ‘ne…pas’ sandwich where the ne and pas are the bread and the verb is what comes in between.

When you are speaking you can think of the ne…pas as a little speedbump causing negation.

Je ne mange pas.

I don’t eat.

Many French verbs start with a vowel. For these verbs, ne becomes n’. For example, ‘Je ne aime pas’ (I don’t like) sounds awkward whereas ‘Je n’aime pas’ sounds much smoother to the ear.

The same goes for avoir (to have). Je ne ai pas (I don’t have) sound rough whereas ‘Je n’ai pas’ sounds pleasant.

Je n’aime pas le fromage.

I don’t like cheese.

Negation in the passé compose

In the passé composé (a commonly used French past tense) wrap ne…pas around the auxiliary (helping) verb. For example, to say ‘I didn’t eat’, say ‘Je n‘ai pas mangé’.

Note, a common mistake is to put the pas after the past participle and say, ‘Je n’ai mangé pas’.

This is wrong. It is tempting to make this mistake because the pas comes after the verb in the present tense: ‘Je ne mange pas’. Once again, the rule is to wrap ne…pas around the auxiliary verb.

Je n’ai pas parlé.

I did not speak.

Negation rules for reflexive verbs

Reflexive verbs can be called ‘to myself verbs’. In the ‘je’ form, these are verbs which have a ‘me’ in between the je and verb, such as ‘Je m’appelle’, which means my name is.

For reflexive verbs in the present tense, wrap ne…pas around the verb and the reflexive pronoun.

For example, I get in up in affirmative is: ‘Je me lève’. The ‘me’ is the reflexive pronoun and it means ‘to myself’. Hence, to negate, the ne…pas goes around the ‘me’: Je ne me lève pas.

This page covers reflexive verbs in detail.

Il ne se rase pas.

He isn’t shaving.

For reflexive verbs in the passé composé, wrap ne…pas around the reflexive pronoun and the auxiliary verb.

In the affirmative, ‘Je me suis levé’ means I got up. For the passé composé, ne…pas goes around the reflexive pronoun (me) and the auxiliary verb (suis). Hence, ‘Je ne me suis pas levé’ is ‘I didn’t get up.

Il ne s’est pas rasé.

He did not shave.

Special negation expressions

French has several other types of negation where other words than ‘pas’ make the negation.

These can be referred to as negative adverbs and the most common examples are: ne…jamais (never), ne…rien (nothing, anything) and ne…personne (nobody, anybody) replace the word pas.

Special Negations: jamais (never), personne (nobody, anybody), rien (nothing, anything)

Ne + verb + jamais = never

The word ‘jamais’ means never. For these sentences, jamais replaces the word pas.

For example, ‘Je mange les frites’ means I eat French fries. Je ne mange jamais les frites means I never eat French fries.

Make sure you don’t say ‘pas jamais’ because this would be a double negation. For example, if you said, ‘Je ne mange pas jamais les frites’, it would be wrong.

You cannot have both pas and jamais in your sentence.

Elle ne voyage jamais.

She never travels.

For the passé composé wrap ne…jamais around the auxiliary verb.

Je n’ai jamais mangé le foie gras.

I’ve never eaten foie gras.

Ne + verb + rien = nothing or anything

The word ‘rien’ translates to both nothing and anything. The same rules that apply to jamais above apply to rien. For example, ‘Je ne mange rien’ translates to both ‘I am eating nothing’ and ‘I am not eating anything’.

Again, ‘Je ne mange pas rien’ would be a double negation. Either say, ‘Je ne mange pas’ (I am not eating) or ‘Je ne mange rien’ (I’m not eating anything).

Je ne mange rien.

I’m not eating anything.

For the passé composé, wrap ne…rien around the auxiliary verb. For example, ‘Je n’ai pas fait’ means ‘I did not do’, while ‘Je n’ai rien fait’ means I didn’t do anything.

Je n’ai rien compris.

I don’t understand anything.

Woman in Paris taking picture on bridge in front of Eiffel tower.

Ne + personne = nobody or anybody

The word personne translates to both nobody and anybody. The same rules that apply to jamais and personne above also apply to personne.

For example, ‘Je ne connais pas’ means ‘I don’t know’ while ‘Je ne connais personne’ translates to I don’t know anybody.

Je ne vois personne.

I don’t see anybody.

For the passé composé, put personne after the past participle. This is unlike jamais and rien. If you look at the sentences above, jamais and rien come before the past participle.

Je n’ai vu personne.

I didn’t see anybody.

Using personne and rien as the subject of the sentence

Both personne (nobody) and rien (nothing) can both be the subjects of a sentence.

In this sentences the word pas is not included. For example, ‘Personne ne parle français’ means ‘Nobody speaks French’.

Personne ne vient ce soir.

Nobody is coming tonight.

Rien ne mache ici.

Nothing is working here.

Ne + verb + pas encore = haven’t yet, still haven’t

When you want to express something that you haven’t done yet use ne + verb + pas encore. Essentially, you are doing a basic ne…pas negation but adding in the word encore, which translates here to ‘still’.

This negation applies to the passé composé. For example, ‘Je n’ai pas encore parlé’ means ‘I still haven’t spoken’.

Je n’ai pas encore compris.

I still haven’t understood.

To ask a ‘Have you ever’ question, use the following constructions:

Est-ce que tu as déjà + past participle?
Est-ce que tu as jamais + past participle?

Examples:

Est-ce que tu as déjà fait du ski?

Have you ever skied?

To answer these questions use the ne + verb + pas encore format:

Je n’ai pas encore fait du ski.

I still haven’t skied.

More expressions for negation

Negation in French is not cut and dry, meaning there are many other negation rules than simply ne…pas. Here is a complete list of these rules with example sentences.

ne + verb + nulle part = nowhere or anywhere.

The word nulle part translates to both nowhere and anywhere. It is considered a special negation as it replaces the word pas. ‘Nous n’allons nulle part’ translates to both ‘We’re not going anywhere’ and ‘We’re going nowhere’.

Elle ne va nulle part.

She’s not going anywhere.

ne + verb + que = only

The format, ne + verb + que means ‘only. The word que precedes the noun that is being ‘onlied’ or limited. For example, ‘Je ne comprends que deux ou trois mots’ translates to ‘I only understand a few words’.

Il ne boit que de l’eau.