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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 ! đ
Par exemple…
Nous sommes prĂȘts. > Nous ne sommes pas prĂȘts. |
We’re ready. > We’re not ready. |
|
J’aime le cafĂ©. > Je n’aime pas le cafĂ©. |
I like coffee. > I don’t like coffee. |
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 mangĂ©. > Il n’a pas mangĂ©. |
He’s eaten. > He hasn’t eaten. |
|
Veux-tu sortir ? > Ne veux-tu pas sortir ? |
Do you want to go out? > Don’t you want to go out? |
Par exemple…
Je t’ai dit de manger. > Je t’ai dit de ne pas manger. |
I told you to eat. > I told you not to eat. |
|
Il espĂšre voir l’accident. > Il espĂšre ne pas voir l’accident. |
He hopes to see the accident. > He hopes to not 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. > Je ne veux pas de pain. |
I want some bread. > I don’t want any bread. |
|
Avez-vous un stylo ? > N’avez-vous pas de stylo ? |
Do you have a pen? > Don’t you have a pen (any pens)? |
Par exemple…
Je ne sais pas. | Je sais pas. | I don’t know. | ||
Il n’est jamais Ă l’heure. | Il est jamais Ă l’heure. | He’s never on time. |
French negative adverbs
ne … pas du tout | not at all | |
Il n’aime pas du tout l’Ă©cole. | He doesn’t like school at all. | |
ne … pas encore | not yet | |
Je n’ai pas encore mangĂ©. | 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 … guĂšre | hardly, barely, scarcely | |
Vous n’avez guĂšre mangĂ©. | 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 oĂč 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 blessĂ©. | He wasn’t wounded. | |
ne … que | only | |
Les trois sĆurs n’ont qu’une chambre. | The three sisters have only one bedroom. |
- 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
- Subject pronouns

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