French Negative Sentences
We use simple negative sentences to say that something doesn’t happen, to deny something, or to express disagreement. In French, the negative form normally uses ne…pas, ne…plus, ne…jamais, etc. When forming negative sentences, it’s very important to pay attention to word order.
How to form a simple negative sentence
Simple negative sentences contain the two parts of the negation ne…pas placed around the verb or auxiliary verb.
1. Simple Tenses (Présent, Imparfait, etc.)
The two parts go around the conjugated verb:
Je ne rentre pas...
2. Compound Tenses (Passé composé, Futur proche, etc.)
The two parts go around the auxiliary or semi-auxiliary verb:
Tu n'as pas fait...
3. Pronominal Verbs
The two parts go around the reflexive pronoun and the conjugated verb (or auxiliary):
Nous ne nous brossons pas...
Watch out for vowels!
To make pronunciation easier, when ne comes before a vowel (a, e, i, o, u, y) or a mute h, it becomes n'.
Other Negative Forms
Practice French Negation
Master French negative structures with our interactive exercises.