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!
Loading your KwizQ&A
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
Trupti
Kwiziq community member
7 March 2018
4 replies
While doing negation with 'de' ,
Hi Laura, I have a query negation with 'de'. I know that with être it stays the same and in case of IL y a and avoir un,une, des changes to de. What about other verbs than the ones mentioned. Does it apply in all cases ?I'd like to know please.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
7 March 2018
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 March 2018
7/03/18
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
23 March 2018
23/03/18
Trupti
Kwiziq community member
24 March 2018
24/03/18