Simple Negative Sentences in French

What is a simple negative sentence?

We use simple negative sentences to say that something doesn’t happen, deny something or express disagreement. In French, the negative form normally uses ne…pas, ne…plus, ne…jamais, etc. When forming negative sentences, it’s important to pay attention to word order. For this, we must distinguish between simple negative sentences and complex negative sentences, which follow different rules.

Read on for a clear explanation of simple negative sentences in French. Once you’re done, you can put your knowledge to the test in the online exercises below.

Contents

Thomas ne trouve plus ses clés. Il part à leur recherche avec sa colocataire.

Elles ne sont pas sur le guéridon près de la porte. Thomas ne les pose jamais là.

Elles ne sont pas non plus sur la table de la cuisine.

Elles sont peut-être sous le canapé ? Oui, les voilà !

How to form a simple negative sentence

To form a simple negative sentence, we first decide whether the verb tense we’re using is a simple tense or whether we’re using a compound tense with an auxiliary verb. Simple negative sentences contain the two parts of the negation ne…pas placed around:

  • the verb in simple tenses (présent, imparfait, passé simple, futur simple, participe présent)
    Example:
    Je ne rentre pas à la maison ce soir.I’m not going home tonight.
  • the auxiliary verb or semi-auxiliary verb in compound tenses (tenses with an auxiliary verb → passé composé, plus-que-parfait, passé antérieur; tenses with a semi-auxiliary verb → futur proche)
    Examples:
    Tu n’as pas fait tes devoirs.You haven’t done your homework.
    Nous n‘allons pas fêter notre mariage.We’re not going to celebrate our wedding.
  • we form negative sentences for pronominal verbs in the same way. For simple tenses, the two parts of the negation go around the reflexive pronoun and the verb. For compound tenses, they go around the reflexive pronoun and auxiliary verb
    Examples:
    se brosser → Nous ne nous brossons pas les cheveux le matin.We don’t brush our hair in the morning.
    se souvenir → Ils ne se sont pas souvenus de ton anniversaire.They didn’t remember your birthday.

Watch out for verbs starting with a vowel!

To make pronunciation easier, when ne comes before a vowel (a, e, i, o, u, y) or a mute h, it becomes n’.

Examples:
Je ne ai pas appelé. → Je n’ai pas appelé.I didn’t call.
Ne habitue pas les enfants au sucre ! → N’habitue pas les enfants au sucre !Don’t let children get used to sugar!

Exception 1: Infinitive verbs

When the verb is an infinitive, the two parts of the negation stay together around the infinitive verb → ne pas + infinitive

Examples:
Ce serait une erreur de ne pas essayer.It would be a mistake not to try.
Elle a choisi de ne pas répondre à la question.She chose not to answer the question.
Nous préférons ne pas nous inquiéter.We prefer not to worry.

Exception 2: Pronominal verbs in the near future (futur proche)

With pronominal verbs in the futur proche (aller + infinitive) the reflexive pronoun goes before the infinitive. In this structure, the two parts of the negation go around aller and the reflexive pronoun stays directly before the infinitive.

Example:
se rendre → Elles ne se vont pas rendre au concert. → Elles ne vont pas se rendre au concert.They’re not going to the concert.

There are other verbal expressions that follow the same pattern, i.e. the negation goes around the auxiliary or semi‑auxiliary, and the reflexive pronoun comes before the infinitive verb. This is the case, for example, with the présent continu (être + en train de + infinitive) and the passé récent (venir + de + infinitive).

Examples:
La sirène n’était pas en train de se baigner.The mermaid wasn’t bathing.
Nous ne venons pas de nous bagarrer.We didn’t just have a fight.

Important

In negative sentences, if there’s an indefinite article (un, une), a partitive article (du, de la), or a number before the noun, they have to be replaced with de or d’:

Examples:
J’ai une sœur. → Je n’ai pas de sœur.I have a sister. → I don’t have a sister.
As-tu de l’argent sur toi ? – Non, je n’ai pas d’argent sur moi.Do you have any money on you? – No, I don’t have any money on me.
Nous avons 5 chiens. → Nous n’avons pas de chiens.We have five dogs. → We don’t have any dogs.

Other ways to make negative sentences

In addition to ne...pas, there are other negative forms in French. They also have two parts and follow the same word order as ne...pas:

  • ne…personne (no one, not anyone)
    Example:
    Vois-tu quelqu’un dans la rue ? – Non, je ne vois personne dans la rue.Do you see anyone in the street? → I don’t see anyone in the street.
  • ne…rien (nothing, not anything)
    Example:
    Existe-t-il quelque chose de plus beau ? – Non, il n’y a rien de plus beau.Is there anything more beautiful? → No, there is nothing more beautiful.
  • ne…jamais (never, not ever)
    Example:
    Es-tu déjà allé en Grèce ? – Non, je n’y suis jamais allé.Have you ever been to Greece? → No, I’ve never been there.
  • ne…plus (no longer, not anymore)
    Example:
    Léa habite-t-elle encore à Strasbourg ? – Non, elle n’y habite plus.Does Léa still live in Strasbourg? → No, she doesn’t live there anymore.
  • ne…aucun (not any, no)
    Example:
    Connais-tu un bon dentiste ? – Non, je n’en connais aucun.Do you know a good dentist? → No, I don’t know any.

Good to know

The word aussi is used to agree with someone’s statement or opinion in a positive way. However, when the sentence is negative, we use the phrase non plus instead:

Example:
Paul viendra-t-il aussi à la fête ? – Non, et Martine ne viendra pas non plus.Will Paul also come to the party? → No, and Martine won’t come either.
Je n’aime pas le chocolat. – Moi non plus.I don’t like chocolate. → Me neither.

Where should we place pronouns?

In a negative sentence, we need to pay special attention to the position of personal pronouns (me, te, les, lui, etc.) and adverbial pronouns (en, y), which must be placed in a specific order:

  • We use personal pronouns to avoid repeating nouns and to make sentences shorter. In a negative sentence, we place the personal pronoun between ne and the verb (in simple tenses) and between ne and the auxiliary verb (in compound tenses). Don’t forget the agreement!
    Examples:
    Je ne mange pas la pomme. → Je ne la mange pas.I’m not eating the apple. → I’m not eating it.
    Tom n’a pas fait ses devoirs. → Tom ne les a pas faits.Tom hasn’t done his homework. → Tom hasn’t done it.
  • We use adverbial pronouns to replace a place or a clause in a sentence. Just like object pronouns, in negative sentences they’re placed between ne and the verb (simple tenses) or between ne and the auxiliary verb (compound tenses).
    Examples:
    Nous ne voulons pas de tes conseils. → Nous n’en voulons pas.We don’t want your advice. → We don’t want any.
    Ils ne sont pas allés chez le médecin. → Ils n’y sont pas allés.They didn’t go to the doctor’s. → They didn’t go there.
  • Be careful with pronominal verbs! The reflective pronoun (me, te, se, etc.) goes between ne and the object or adverbial pronoun.
    Examples:
    se couper → Il ne se coupe jamais la barbe. → Il ne se la coupe jamais.He never trims his beard. → He never trims it.
    se souvenir → Elle ne s’est pas souvenue de ton anniversaire. → Elle ne s’en est pas souvenue.She didn’t remember your birthday. → She didn’t remember it.
    se rendre → Nous ne nous sommes pas rendus au mariage. → Nous ne nous y sommes pas rendus.We didn’t go to the wedding. → We didn’t go there.

How do we put the pronouns in the right order if there is more than one?

Pronouns in a sentence always follow this pattern:

reflexive pronoun → direct object pronoun → indirect object pronoun → adverbial pronoun en → adverbial pronoun y

More simply, the order is:

    1. me, te, se, nous, vous
    2. le, la, les
    3. lui, leur
    4. en
    5. y
Examples:
Lucien ne s’est pas remis de la rupture. → Lucien ne s‘en est pas remis.Lucien hasn’t got over the break-up. → Lucien hasn’t got over it.
Je n’ai pas donné le cadeau à Claire. → Je ne le lui ai pas donné.I didn’t give the present to Claire. → I didn’t give it to her.

Where should we place adverbs?

The position of adverbs in a simple negative sentence depends on the type of adverb and on the meaning we want to express. Here are some examples:

  • If it’s an adverb of time (such as souvent, encore, jamais, déjà, etc.), it’s usually placed after pas.
Examples:
Je ne répondrai pas toujours aussi patiemment.I won’t always reply as patiently.
Nous n’allons pas encore retourner à l’hôtel.We’re not going back to the hotel yet.
  • If it’s a modal adverb (such as certainement, vraiment, probablement, quand même, etc.), it’s usually placed before pas to add emphasis or express a particular nuance.
Examples:
Il n’acceptera certainement pas cette offre. (= insistance)He certainly won’t accept this offer.
Tu ne vas quand même pas faire ça ? (= surprise)You’re surely not going to do that?

These rules are general, and there may be small variations depending on literary style or the effect we want to use in the sentence.

How to form simple negative questions

Simple negative questions let us ask something while including a negation. To form them, we use the different types of interrogative sentences and add the negative elements such as ne … pas, ne … jamais, etc.

  • If it’s a question with rising intonation, a question with est‑ce que or one with a question word, then the structure stays the same as in a simple negative sentence. We just add a question mark at the end.
    Examples:
    Tu n’aimes pas le chocolat ?Don’t you like chocolate?
    Est-ce que nous n’allons pas trop vite ?Are we not going too fast?
    Qui ne s’est pas encore inscrit sur la liste ?Who hasn’t put their name on the list yet?
  • If it’s an interrogative sentence using inversion, then the structure is different from a simple negative sentence. We place ne at the start of the sentence, then invert the verb and the subject.
    Examples:
    Ne veulent-ils pas nous rejoindre ?Don’t they want to join us?
    Pourquoi n’as-tu pas invité Martine ?Why didn’t you invite Martine?
    Be careful with pronominal verbs! Here, the inversion includes the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, etc.), which goes before the verb.
    Examples:
    Ne te prépares-tu pas pour l’examen ?Aren’t you getting ready for the exam?
    Ne se seraient-ils pas trompé de chemin ?Wouldn’t they have taken the wrong path?

Learn more about the simple negative sentence in French grammar

To learn more about negation in different verb tenses and to practice with our exercises, see the following pages: