Look at these negative sentences:
Notice that to make a negative sentence in French is slightly more complicated than in English as there are two negative words involved.
Notice that to negate a verb in a simple sentence, you wrap ne… pas around the verb (here suis / ai).
Note: if the verb begins with a vowel, use n' instead of ne.
ATTENTION: c'est becomes ce n'est pas.
C'est bleu ? Non, ce n'est pas bleu !
Is it blue? No, that's not blue!
Ce n'est pas très gentil de sa part.
It's not very nice of him.
See also more advanced lessons Position of negation with two verbs (conjugated + infinitive)
and Using 'ne ... pas' with compound tenses (negation)
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Je n'ai pas de frère.
I have no brother.
Je n'aime pas Paul.
I don't like Paul.
Je ne suis pas grande.
I am not tall.
Ce n'est pas très gentil de sa part.
It's not very nice of him.
Elle ne regarde pas la télé.
She is not watching telly.
C'est bleu ? Non, ce n'est pas bleu !
Is it blue? No, that's not blue!
Tu n'écoutes pas Alice.
You don't listen to Alice.
Nous n'allons pas au cinéma.
We're not going to the cinema.
Q&A
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
7/03/18
Bonjour Trupti !
The être exception applies to all so-called "verbes d'état" (state verbs) in French, which are verbs that describe a state the subject of the sentence is in.
Here is the complete list of "verbes d'état", which I've now added to the lesson :)
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/my-languages/french/theme/1512981
I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !
Trupti
Kwiziq community member
7/03/18
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
23/03/18
Trupti
Kwiziq community member
24/03/18
Debora
Kwiziq community member
12/01/18
'Je n'ai pas de frère' is about no brothers. The 'de' in this case is like 'any' in English. 'J'ai des frères.' I have brothers. 'Je n'ai pas de frères.' I don't have any brothers.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
12/12/16
Bravo ! Tu n'es pas indienne, donc d'où viens-tu ?
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
18/07/16
I agree that the sound on this video could be better, but we're just hosting the link to a third party's video, so we can't do anything to it specifically.
However, we'll be looking for a better quality video, and we of course welcome any suggestions !
À bientôt !
Damien
Kwiziq community member
14/01/17
Catherine
Kwiziq community member
1 June 2018
1 reply
If I wanted to say "I don't need" would I say je n'ai pas besoin or je n'ai besoin pas? I'm not sure I'm finding this phrase difficult!
Chris
Kwiziq community member
4 June 2018
4/06/18
Hi Catherine,
ne..pas always brackets the first conjugated verb. Any potential object to the verb comes after it. Therefore it is:
Je n'ai pas besoin de cela. -- I don't need that.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).