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Adverbes négatifs
Negative adverbs turn affirmative statements and questions into negative statements and questions. The most common English negative adverb is the word "not," but French is a little more complicated – quelle surprise ! 😉
Par exemple…
Nous sommes prêts.![]() |
We’re ready.![]() |
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J’aime le café.![]() |
I like coffee.![]() |
There are two main differences between French and English negative adverbs:
1. The French adverb has two parts: ne, which precedes the verb, and pas (or another word or phrase, see below), which follows it. When the verb is inverted, pas follows the subject pronoun.
2. In English negation, the helping verb "do" must be added to most verbs (learn more). This is not the case in French: if there’s one verb in the affirmative, there’s just one verb in the negative. Likewise, if there are two verbs in the affirmative, as in compound tenses/moods and dual-verb constructions, there are two in the negative.
When there are two verbs, ne and pas (or another word/phrase) go around the first (conjugated) verb, followed by the past participle or infinitive.
Par exemple…
Il a mangé.![]() |
He has eaten.![]() |
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Veux-tu sortir ?![]() |
Do you want to go out?![]() |
However, when there’s just an infinitive being negated, ne and pas stay together in front of it.
Par exemple…
Je t’ai dit de manger.![]() |
I told you to eat.![]() |
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Il espère voir l’accident.![]() |
He hopes to see the accident.![]() |
When a partitive or indefinite article is negated, that article is replaced by de, similar to how English changes "some" to "any."
Par exemple…
Je veux du pain.![]() |
I want some bread.![]() |
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Avez-vous un stylo ?![]() |
Do you have a pen?![]() |
Learn more: Negative de
Informally, ne is often dropped in spoken French – learn more.
Par exemple…
Je ne sais pas. | Je sais pas. | I don’t know. | |
Il n’est jamais à l’heure. | Il est jamais à l’heure. | He’s never on time. |
French negative adverbs
ne … pas du tout | not at all | |
Il n’aime pas du tout l’école. | He doesn’t like school at all. | |
ne … pas encore | not yet | |
Je n’ai pas encore mangé. | I haven’t eaten yet. | |
ne … pas non plus | neither, not either | |
Elle n’aime pas non plus le voyage. | She doesn’t like traveling either. | |
ne … pas toujours | not always | |
Tu n’as pas toujours raison. | You’re not always right. | |
ne … aucunement | not at all, in no way | |
Nous n’en sommes aucunement responsables. | We are in no way responsible for that. | |
ne … guère | hardly, barely, scarcely | |
Vous n’avez guère mangé. | You hardly ate anything. | |
ne … jamais | never | |
Ils ne sont jamais en retard. | They’re never late. | |
ne … nullement | not at all, absolutely no | |
Je n’ai nullement l’intention de t’aider. | I have absolutely no intention of helping you. | |
ne … nulle part | nowhere | |
Tu n’as nulle part où aller ? | Don’t you have anywhere to go? | |
ne … plus | no more, not any more | |
Nous ne voulons plus de drame. | We don’t want any more drama. | |
ne … point | not (formal/literary equivalent of ne … pas) | |
Il ne fut point blessé. | He wasn’t wounded. | |
ne … que | only | |
Les trois sœurs n’ont qu’une chambre. | The three sisters have only one bedroom. |
Related lessons
- Expressions with (ne …) pas
- Formal negation
- Informal negation
- Negative adjectives
- Negative pronouns
- Du tout
- Jamais – never vs ever
- Pas without ne
- Negation lessons – PwLF super list
- Introduction to adverbs
- Introduction to verbs
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