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The negative formOther negatives

Do you you know how to use the negative form? In French ne ... pas means 'not' and it is used around the main verb of sentence to turn it from a positive into a negative.

Part ofFrenchVerbs and tenses

Other negatives

There are other useful negatives that work in the same way as ne ... pas:

Negative form	English	Example
ne ... plus	not anymore, no longer	Il ne travaille plus - He doesn't work anymore
ne ... rien	nothing, not anything	Elle ne voit rien - She can't see anything
ne ... jamais	never	Je ne vais jamais à la piscine - I never go to the swimming pool
ne ... personne	nobody, not anybody	Ils ne connaissent personne à Paris - They don't know anybody in Paris
ne ... que	only	Vous ne regardez que des films d'action - You only watch action films
ne ... ni ... ni	neither ... nor	Je ne vais ni au cinéma ni au théâtre - I neither go to the cinema nor to the theatre

Negative form	ne ... plus
English	not anymore, no longer
Example	Il ne travaille plus - He doesn't work anymore

Negative form	ne ... rien
English	nothing, not anything
Example	Elle ne voit rien - She can't see anything

Negative form	ne ... jamais
English	never
Example	Je ne vais jamais à la piscine - I never go to the swimming pool

Negative form	ne ... personne
English	nobody, not anybody
Example	Ils ne connaissent personne à Paris - They don't know anybody in Paris

Negative form	ne ... que
English	only
Example	Vous ne regardez que des films d'action - You only watch action films

Negative form	ne ... ni ... ni
English	neither ... nor
Example	Je ne vais ni au cinéma ni au théâtre - I neither go to the cinema nor to the theatre

Remember that ne becomes n' before a vowel or silent -h:

je n’ai pas de voiture - I don’t have a car
ils n’habitent plus ici - they no longer live here

Using negatives with the perfect tense

How to use negatives - ne ... pas

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