English says “not” once. French uses two words that sit on either side of the verb like the two slices of a sandwich: ne before it, pas after it. Swap pas for another word and you get “never”, “nothing”, “nobody” or “no longer” with the same pattern.
French has no helper like English “do” in “don’t”. The verb itself goes between the two halves.
Ne … pas in the present
The sandwich holds the verb and anything stuck to the front of it, such as the object pronouns le, la, me or y. Every word below has its English meaning underneath.
JeInenotsaisknowpas.not
zhuh nuh seh PAH“I don’t know.”Why:Savoir, to know. The most useful negative sentence in French.
Ilhen’notaimelikespasnotlethecafé.coffee
eel nem pah luh kah-FAY“He doesn’t like coffee.”Why:Aime starts with a vowel, so ne shortens to n’.
JeInenotleitvoisseepas.not
zhuh nuh luh vwah PAH“I can’t see it.”Why:The pronoun le, “it”, stays glued to the verb inside the sandwich.
Never, no longer, nothing, nobody, only
Keep ne and replace pas with one of these words. You never use pas as well: je ne mange jamais already means “I never eat”.
Pattern
Means
Example
ne … jamais
never
Je ne bois jamais de vin.zhuh nuh bwah zhah-MEH duh VA(N) · I never drink wine.
ne … plus
no longer, any more
Elle n’habite plus ici.el nah-beet plü-zee-SEE · She doesn’t live here any more.
ne … rien
nothing
Je ne comprends rien.zhuh nuh koh(n)-prah(n) RYA(N) · I don’t understand anything.
ne … personne
nobody
Il ne connaît personne.eel nuh koh-neh pair-SON · He doesn’t know anyone.
ne … que
only
Je n’ai que dix euros.zhuh nay kuh dee-zuh-ROH · I only have ten euros.
ne … pas encore
not yet
Il n’est pas encore là.eel neh pah-zah(n)-kor LAH · He’s not here yet.
ne … aucun(e)
not a single, no
Je n’ai aucune idée.zhuh nay oh-kü-nee-DAY · I have no idea.
Rien and personne can also start a sentence as the subject, still with ne before the verb: Personne n’est venu, nobody came; Rien ne change, nothing changes.
In the past, and before an infinitive
Passé composé: around the helperIn the passé composé, the conjugated verb is avoir or être, so that is what goes in the sandwich. The participle follows pas.
Two words break the rule and go after the participle: personne (je n’ai vu personne) and que (je n’ai mangé qu’une pomme).
Infinitive: both words in frontAn infinitive is the unconjugated “to” form of a verb. To make it negative, place ne pas together before it. You see this on signs and in instructions.
Pas de: “a” and “some” become de
After a negative, the articles un, une, des, du and de la all change to de (or d’ before a vowel). The logic: you are saying there is zero of something, so there is nothing to count. Le, la and les do not change. All the articles are on le, la, les.
The one exception is être: ce n’est pas un problème, it’s not a problem. With “to be”, you are not denying that something exists, only what it is.
How people really say it: ne disappears
In relaxed conversation, French speakers usually drop ne and keep only the second word. Je sais pas often blurs further into “shay pah”. Write the full form, and use it in formal speech, but expect to hear the short one in films, on the street and among friends. Understanding both is part of real fluency.
Written, formal
Spoken, everyday
Je ne sais pas.
Ce n’est pas grave.
Il n’y a pas de problème.
Je ne veux plus.
Oui, non and si
French has a third answer word. Si means “yes” in reply to a negative question or statement, to contradict it. Using oui there would be confusing.
Anna
Tuyouvienscomecethissoir ?evening
tü vya(n) suh SWAHR“Are you coming tonight?”
Why:A positive question: answer oui or non.
Marc
Oui,yesbienwellsûr.sure
wee, bya(n) SÜR“Yes, of course.”
Why:Oui agrees with a positive question.
Anna
Tuyounenotvienscomepasnotdemain ?tomorrow
tü nuh vya(n) pah duh-MA(N)“Aren’t you coming tomorrow?”
Why:A negative question. Saying “yes, I am coming” needs si.
Marc
Si,yes-I-amjeIvienscomeaussi.too
SEE, zhuh vya(n) oh-SEE“Yes I am, I’m coming too.”
Why:Si contradicts the negative. Non would mean “no, I’m not coming”.
Plus jamais rien: combining negatives
Unlike English, French can stack negative words after a single ne, and the meaning stays negative. Drop pas when another negative word is there.