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
Tu n'écoutes pas Alice.
You don't listen to Alice.
Nous n'allons pas au cinéma.
We're not going to the cinema.
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!
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
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).
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
Helen
Kwiziq community member
1 July 2018
1 reply
I was trying to say 'you don't like them' (ie dogs) so I said 'tu les n'aime pas. Is the wrong?
Chris
Kwiziq community member
2 July 2018
2/07/18
It's almost correct, Helen. The word order is a bit different and the verb needs to be in second person singular, because of the "tu":
Tu ne les aimes pas.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).