French · A1 · Grammar

French Negation: Where Ne and Pas Go

In standard French, put ne before the conjugated verb and pas after it. Je parle becomes Je ne parle pas. Use n’ before a vowel sound, as in Je n’aime pas. Informal speech often drops ne, but keeping both words is a dependable choice in writing and careful speech.

Library date 4 September 2026 · Published 5 November 2026

Examples

French	English
Je ne sais pas.	I don’t know.
Je n’ai pas compris.	I didn’t understand.
On ne va pas sortir.	We aren’t going to go out.

Find the conjugated verb

With one verb, bracket that verb: Vous ne travaillez pas demain. With two verbs in a near-future construction, bracket the first one: Je ne vais pas partir. In the passé composé, bracket the auxiliary: Je n’ai pas compris.

What a listener hears

In quick conversation, you may hear J’ai pas compris. Learn to recognise this reduction without copying it into a formal email. Pas also works by itself in short answers such as Pas aujourd’hui, meaning Not today.

Try it

Make “Elle aime le café” and “Nous avons réservé” negative.

Show answer

Elle n’aime pas le café. Nous n’avons pas réservé.

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