Negation
Basic Negation: ne … pas
Basic negation is formed by placing ne … pas around the conjugated verb. Ne becomes n’ in front of a verb starting with a vowel or a mute h.
| Tex: Tu ne vas pas en cours aujourd’hui, Tammy? | Tex: You’re not going to class today Tammy? |
| Tammy: Non. Je ne vais pas bien. Je ne peux pas manger et j’ai mal à la tête. | Tammy: No. I am not well. I cannot eat and I have a headache. |
| Tex: Tu n‘as pas de chance! Ce soir, il y a une fête chez Edouard! | Tex: That’s too bad [literally ‘you are not lucky’]! Tonight there is a party at Edouard’s! |
| Tammy: Tu n‘es pas d’un grand réconfort, tu sais! | Tammy: You are not a lot of comfort, you know! |
In compound tenses, like the passé composé, the ne … pas are also placed around the conjugated verb, which is the auxiliary, avoir or être. In the periphrastic future, ne … pas goes around the verb aller.
| Tex n‘a pas été très gentil. | Tex was not very nice. |
| Tammy ne va pas passer la soirée chez Edouard. | Tammy is not going to spend the evening at Edouard’s. |
Note that in spoken French, the ne / n‘ is sometimes dropped. In familiar speech, tu is often pronounced as t’ before a vowel.
Tammy: Tex, t’es (tu es) pas très gentil. Tammy: Tex, you are not very nice.
