Negative Forms

• “Negative forms” refer to how we express negation in French (how we say “no” or “not” or other variations thereof).

• The most basic negative form is the combination of “ne…pas”. The verb is placed between these two words e.g. “Je ne mange pas” (I do not eat).

• Sometimes the “ne” part of the negation is dropped in informal spoken French.

• There are also other negative expressions to communicate sentiments like “never”, “nothing” or “nobody”. “Ne…jamais” (never), “ne…rien” (nothing), “ne…personne” (nobody), e.g. “Je ne mange jamais de viande” (I never eat meat).

• Often in these negative expressions, the article “de” is used regardless of the gender/number of the noun following it, e.g., “Je n’ai vu de personne” (I didn’t see anybody).

• Some negative expressions use a different structure, like “ne…plus” (no more) or “ne…que” (only), e.g. “Il ne boit plus de lait” (He does not drink milk anymore) or “Il n’y a que du pain” (There is only bread).

• The placement of negation around verb tenses and compound verbs is a bit more complex. For reflexive verbs, the negation surrounds the reflexive pronoun and the auxiliary verb, e.g., “Elle ne se sent pas bien” (She does not feel well). For compound tenses, it surrounds the auxiliary verb, e.g., “Je n’ai pas mangé” (I have not eaten).

• The negative form can also be used with commands. In the affirmative command, the word ‘pas’ follows the verb, e.g., “mange pas ça !” (Don’t eat that!).

• Pay attention to the semantic differences between English and French negative expressions. For example, “ne…aucun” means “none” but it’s used much like English “any” in negative sentences, e.g., “Je n’ai aucun argent” (I have no money).

Continued practice in reading and writing negative forms in different contexts will help reinforce these concepts, making them more natural and familiar.