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Not Just French Phrases
The French negative adverb ne … pas essentially means "not." In addition to being useful for negating any normal sentence, ne … pas or even just pas is found in many expressions and proverbs. Learn how to say none of your business, to be stingy, quite a bit, and more with this list of expressions with (ne …) pas.
Proverbs with ne … pas
| En avril, ne te découvre pas d’un fil | April weather can be capricious, don’t take off your warm clothes | |
| Impossible n’est pas français | There’s no such word as "can’t" | |
| Les chiens ne font pas des chats | The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree | |
| Quand le chat n’est pas là, les souris dansent ! | When the cat’s away, the mice will play! | |
| Tout ce qui brille n’est pas or | All that glitters isn’t gold | |
| Une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps | One swallow doesn’t make a summer |
Expressions with (ne …) pas
| C’est pas de la tarte | (informal) | It’s not that easy | |
| C’est pas donné | (informal) | It’s not cheap / simple | |
| C’est pas gagné | (informal) | It’s not a given | |
| C’est pas tes oignons | (informal) | None of your business | |
| C’est pas vrai ! | (informal) | No way! | |
| Ce n’est pas grave | It doesn’t matter, No problem | ||
| Ce n’est pas là mer à boire | (informal) | It’s not the end of the world | |
| Ce n’est pas mardi gras aujourd’hui | (informal) | You look like a clown | |
| Ce n’est pas terrible | It’s not that great | ||
| Il m’aime un peu, beaucoup, passionnément, à la folie, pas du tout | He loves me, he loves me not | ||
| Il ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard | He’s nothing to write home about | ||
| Je n’en reviens pas | I can’t get over it | ||
| La question ne se pose pas | It’s not an issue | ||
| ne … pas | not | ||
| n’est-ce pas ? | right? isn’t that so? | ||
| ne pas attacher son chien avec des saucisses | (informal) | to be stingy | |
| Ne m’en veux pas | Don’t be mad | ||
| Ne tirez pas sur le pianiste | (informal) | Don’t shoot the messenger | |
| pas de problème | no problem | ||
| pas de souci(s) | (informal) | no worries | |
| pas du tout | not at all | ||
| pas mal | not bad | ||
| pas mal (de) | quite a bit (of) | ||
| pas terrible | not that great | ||
| Si ce n’est pas indiscret | If you don’t mind my asking | ||
| Tu ne manques pas d’air ! | (informal) | You’ve got some nerve! | |
More expressions with pas
In the above expressions, pas is a negative adverb. Remember that pas can also be a noun – take a look at Expressions with (un) pas.
Related lessons
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