La négation
How to build negative sentences with ne...pas and related expressions.
The rule
Basic French negation uses two words that wrap around the conjugated verb: ne (or n' before a vowel) and pas.
In the present tense: Je ne mange pas (I don't eat). In the passé composé, ne...pas wraps around the auxiliary verb, not the past participle: Je n'ai pas mangé (I didn't eat), not "Je n'ai mangé pas."
Other negative expressions follow the same ne...X pattern: ne...jamais (never), ne...rien (nothing), ne...plus (no longer/no more), ne...personne (nobody).
In casual spoken French, the "ne" is often dropped entirely ("Je sais pas" instead of "Je ne sais pas"), but you should always include it in writing.
Examples
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Je ne mange pas de viande.I don't eat meat.
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Elle n'aime pas le café.She doesn't like coffee.
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Nous n'avons pas fini.We haven't finished.
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Il ne va jamais au cinéma.He never goes to the cinema.
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Je n'ai rien compris.I understood nothing.
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Ils ne travaillent plus ici.They no longer work here.
Common mistakes
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Je n'ai mangé pas.Je n'ai pas mangé.
In the passé composé, "ne...pas" surrounds the auxiliary verb (ai), not the past participle.
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Je ne sais.Je ne sais pas.
"Ne" alone isn't enough in writing — you need the second negative word ("pas", "jamais", etc.) to complete the negation.
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Il ne a pas faim.Il n'a pas faim.
"Ne" becomes "n'" before a vowel sound, like the "a" in "a faim".
