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Negative sentences in FrenchOn this page, we'll look at how to form negative sentences in French where a "total negation" is being expressed. That is, the equivalent of sentences in English with n't: I won't..., I don't..., I didn't... etc. Saying don't..., doesn't... in the present tenseThe basic way to form a negative sentence in French is as follows:
Put the word ne before the verb and pas after
the verb.
We'll see various complications later, but here are some examples with the present tense:
je ne parle pas anglais
I don't speak English il ne travaille pas le samedi he doesn't work on Saturdays  Suggest a change / proposez une modificationIf the verb begins with a vowel, then ne shortens to n': Practise the negativeYou can practise some simple negative sentences below. We'll use the following verbs and expressions:
travailler le lundi (etc)
to work on Mondays (etc) regarder la télé to watch TV écouter la radio to listen to the radio parler anglais/français/allemand/espagnol to speak English/French/German/Spanish aimer le café/le chocolat to like coffee/chocolate Suggest a change / proposez une modificationTo form the negative sentences using these expressions, you need to put ne...pas round the verb as indicated, plus make sure you get the correct form depending on the person. All of the verbs used are regular. If you prefer, you may want to revise the present tense of -er verbs first. The negative of the perfect tenseOn the next page, we look at how to say I didn't..., she hasn't ...-ed etc, using the negative of the perfect tense. Other negatives: using ne...jamais to say "never"There are other similar constructions to ne...pas used to form other types of negative sentences:
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