French Negation

La Négation

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Updated on November 17, 2019

Making sentences negative in French is a bit more complicated than in English. This summary of the different kinds of negation and negation-related grammatical structures should help clear up some of the confusion. The title of each negation category links to a detailed lesson with examples of usage and a quiz.

(Don't) just say non No, not a chance, I don't think so, and more.	non pas question !
Negative adverbs Negate or restrict the action of the verb they modify.	ne... pas ne... jamais
Negative adjectives Negate or cast doubt on a quality of the noun they modify.	ne... nul ne... aucun
Negative pronouns Negate or cast doubt on the existence of the noun they replace.	ne... rien ne... personne
Negative conjunction There's only one:	ne... ni... ni...
Negative questions There's a special French word to respond yes when someone else says no.lt;br>	- Non. - Si !
Negating infinitives 2-part negative structures stay together in front of infinitives.	Ne pas toucher. Ne jamais fermer.
N'importe... expressions Designate an unspecified person, thing, or characteristic.	n'importe qui n'importe quel...
Pas Negate a non-verbal structure.	pas beaucoup pas souvent
Double negatives Two negatives don't make a positive in French.	Ce n'est pas rien. Je n'ai jamais vu personne.
Formal negation There are three negative structures particular to formal French.	ne... point avant qu'il ne...
Informal negation Ne is often dropped in spoken French.	Je sais pas. Bouge pas !