Negative Sentences in French: How to deny in French

Negative sentences (phrase négative, in French) are sentences that deny a verb, that is, an action or the occurrence of a fact or event. For example “You don’t eat sugar” – “Tu ne manges pas de sucre”.

Negative sentences in French are formed with the particle ne…pas. The general formula for negating in French is ne + verb + pas, which changes depending on the type of sentence in question.

If it is a simple sentence, the verb goes between ne and pas.
But if it is compound the verb is placed after the pas.

Simple sentences

A simple sentence is one that only has one verb and only one predicate. If the sentence is simple, the verb whose action is denied goes between ne and pas.

For example, the following sentence: I do not speak loudly – Je ne parle pas forte. The verb or action that is denied is to speak or parler.

Subject+ ne +main verb + pas + predicate

Subject	Ne	Auxiliary verb	Pas	Main verb	Predicate	Meaning
Je	n´	ai	pas	parlé	forte	I have not spoken loudly.
Tu	n´	est	pas	arrivé	hier	You didn’t arrive yesterday.
Il	n´	as	pas	bu	café	He has not drunk coffee.

Compound sentences

A compound sentence is the one that has two or more verbs, and two or more predicates. If the sentence is compound, the auxiliary verb goes between ne and pas.

An example is the sentence: I have not spoken loudly – Je n’ai pas parlé forte. To have is the auxiliary and to speak the main verb.

Subject	Ne	Auxiliary verb	Pas	Main verb	Predicate	Meaning
Je	n´	ai	pas	parlé	forte.	I have not spoken loudly.
Tu	n´	est	pas	arrivé	hier.	You didn’t arrive yesterday.
Il	n´	as	pas	bu	café	He has not drunk coffee.

The contraction of ne (n´)

The negative particle ne contracts: n’ before a vowel or silent h.

Nous n’avons pas trouvé le chat. – We haven’t found the cat.
They n’ont pas de temps. – They don’t have time.
Il n’habite pas ici. – He doesn’t live here.

Partitive articles in negative sentences

In negative french sentences du, de la and des are replaced by de or d’.

Affirmative sentence	Negative sentence
Je veux du pain – I want bread.	Je ne veux pas de pain – I don’t want bread.
Ils ont des pommes. – They have apples.	Ils n’ont pas de pommes. – They don’t have apples.
Vous mangez de la salade. – You eat salad.	Vous ne mangez pas de salade. – You don’t eat salad.

Other forms of negation in French

There are other ways to negate besides ne…pas, and they have a similar structure to the ones previously explained because they use the ne, but the pas is replaced with another word. The ways to deny in French are presented below with examples.

Ne + verb + negation word

Ne…Jamais – Nunca

Tu ne pleures jamais. – You never cry

Il ne danse jamais. – He never dances.

Ne … personne – Nobody

Il n’y a personne ici. – There is nobody here.

Je ne connais personne que veux le faire. – I don’t know anyone who wants to do it.

Ne…Rien – Nothing

Il n’y a rien à dire. – There is nothing to say.

Ne … plus – No longer/ Anymore

Je ne veux plus de pizza. – I don’t want more pizza.

Ils ne traville plus a la école. – He doesn’t work at the school anymore.

Ne … aucun – No/Any

Ils n’ont trouvé aucun avocat.-They haven´t found any lawyer.

Nous n’avons vu aucun chat – We haven’t seen any cat.

Aucun

Aucun agrees in gender and number with the noun it accompanies.

Aucun – Singular, male.
Aucune – Singular, female.
Aucuns – Plural, male.
Aucunes – Plural, female.

Examples of negative sentences in French

Some examples of negative sentences in French are:

Je n’ai vu personne arriver. I haven’t seen anyone arrive.
Vous n’avez aucune raison d’être en retard. – You have no reason to be late.
Elle n’est pas en colère. -She’s not angry.
Le professeur ne voulait pas échouer à l’examen. – The teacher did not want to fail the exam.
Les animaux ne doivent pas vivre dans des cages. – Animals should not live in cages.
Les gens ne doivent pas partager leur vie privée sur les réseaux sociaux. – People should not share their private life on social networks.
Vous n’avez pas peur d’apprendre de nouvelles choses. – You are not afraid to learn new things.

More examples