9 French negatives in different tenses

To be or NOT to be . . . negatives are a big part of our daily life.  Not negative feelings, but those phrases we need to use in French to say NOT, NEVER, NO MORE, and so on! 

But when it comes to doing the ‘wrap it around the verb’ thing, don’t we just get it all messed up?

It’s ok - even after all these years of speaking French and living in France, I often have to slow down and think some phrases through. We all do now and then. 

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a chart we could look at with them all lined up, ready to use? 

You know what’s next!  Here it is! The mini-lesson with it all in! 

In this mini-lesson, you’ll discover

• A range of negatives in different tenses
• How to place them correctly in a phrase
• The placement of negatives in simple and compound tenses 

How does the French negative form work?

In French, whenever you require the negative form, you’ll have 2 parts. The first one is before your verb and the second one is after your verb. 

Let’s play with one example:

• Je ne mange pas >>> I don’t eat / I’m not eating.

 Note that if your verb starts with a vowel or h, the “ne” becomes “n’”.

• Je n’ aime pas >>> I don’t like it.

The French negative form in action.

In order to consolidate the structure, here are various sentences:

• Je ne veux pas quitter la leçon >>> I don’t want to live the lesson.
• Je ne sais pas >>> I don’t know.

• Je ne bois pas >>> I don’t drink.

• Je ne comprends pas >>> I don’t understand.

• Je ne regarde pas  >>> I don’t watch / I’m not looking.

You should be able to apply the negative form to your sentences with the present tense…

Note that with the verb avoir (to have) the pattern will be: 

• Je n’ ai pas de….. >>> I don’t have….

Whether the following word is singular or plural, the pattern remains the same like this:

• Je n’ ai pas de voiture >>> I don’t have a car

• Je n’ ai pas de soeurs >>> I don’t have sisters 

However, if your noun starts with a vowel or h, you’ll see:

• Je n’ ai pas d’argent >>> I don’t have money

• Je n’ ai pas d’huile  >>> I don’t have oil

8 other ways to express the negative form in French.

You have just learnt the most common negative structure. Now, you are about to discover 8 other options.

Here’s the list:

•  ne… rien  >>> nothing (not anything)

•  ne… plus  >>> no more (no longer)

•  ne… jamais  >>> never (not ever)

•  ne… ni…ni  >>> neither…nor 

•  ne… guère  >>> hardly ever

•  ne… aucun  >>> none (not any)

•  ne… personne  >>> nobody (not anyone)
•  ne… que  >>> only 

Don’t worry, I show you exactly how to apply these structures with examples in the next section

The negative options in French in practice.

Let’s apply what you have just seen in real examples.

• Je ne mange pas de chocolat >>> I don’t eat chocolate

• Je ne mange rien au travail >>> I eat nothing at work

• Je n’en mange plus  >>> I’m not eat anymore of that

• Je ne mange jamais de chocolat noir >>> I never eat dark chocolate

• Je ne mange ni le chocolat blanc, ni le chocolat noir >>> I eat either white chocolate nor dark chocolate. 

• Je ne mange guère le chocolat >>> I hardly ever eat chocolate.

• Je ne vois personne ici! >>> I can’t see anyone here! 

• Je ne mange aucun chocolat >>> I don’t eat any chocolate at all.

• Je ne mange que le chocolat blanc >>> I only eat white chocolate.

Watch out about this with the speaking French negative forms.

Oui there are 2 parts for the negative form in French but non, you don’t need both when you talk.

So oui, you can drop the first part when you speak but non, you can’t do it when you write negative sentences.

The same sentences with this option when you speak:

• Je mange pas de chocolat >>> I don’t eat chocolate

• Je mange rien au travail >>> I eat nothing at work

• J’en mange plus  >>> I’m not eating anymore of that

• Je mange jamais de chocolat noir >>> I never eat dark chocolate

• Je mange ni le chocolat blanc, ni le chocolat noir >>> I eat either white chocolate nor dark chocolate. 

• Je mange guère le chocolat >>> I hardly ever eat chocolate.

• Je vois personne ici! >>> I can’t see anyone here! 

• Je mange aucun chocolat >>> I don’t eat any chocolate at all.
• Je mange que le chocolat blanc >>> I only eat white chocolate.

Remember to do it only when you speak.

How to apply the negative form with the passé composé.

When it comes to negative sentences with the passé composé, the order varies a little. Since the passé composé possesses 2 parts: the auxiliary and the past participle, you will put the first part of the negative form before the auxiliary and the second part after it. The verb that is wrapped up is the auxiliary, not the past participle.

Not sure how to do it? Let’s play with the same sentences: 

• Je n’ai pas mangé de chocolat >>> I didn’t eat chocolate

• Je n’ai rien mangé au travail >>> I didn’t eat anything at work

• Je n’en ai plus mangé >>> I didn’t eat anymore of that

• Je n’ai jamais mangé de chocolat noir >>> I’ve never eaten dark chocolate

• Je n’ai mangé ni le chocolat blanc, ni le chocolat noir >>> I ate neither white chocolate nor dark chocolate. 

• Je n’ai guère mangé le chocolat >>> I hardly ate chocolate.

• Je n’ai vu personne ici! >>> I haven’t seen anyone here! 

• Je n’ai mangé aucun chocolat >>> I didn’t eat any chocolate at all.

• Je n’ai mangé que le chocolat blanc >>> I only ate white chocolate.

The French negative form with the gerund.

If you ever need the negative form with the infinitive, you should be prepared to change the order of the words. Indeed, the pattern is like the following:

• Ne pas + verb

An example in context would be like this:

• Je t’ai dit de ne pas manger autant de bonbons >>> I told you not to eat so many sweets.

For the gerund, repeat the traditional pattern, in other words the gerund between the first part and the second one of the negative form.

This is what you obtain:

• C’était en ne regardant pas les instructions qu’il a mal compris le jeu >>> It was by not looking at the instructions that he misunderstood the game.

The negative form with all French tenses.

In this section, you are going to review all the tenses in French with the same verb. As a result, you’ll see how it works for each tense regarding the syntax.

The present tense:

• Je ne mange pas de gluten >>> I don’t eat gluten.

The imperfect tense:

• Je ne mangeais pas de champignons quand j’étais petit >>> I didn’t used to eat mushrooms when I was small.

The future tense:

• Je ne mangerai pas les fraises. J’en suis allergique. >>> I won’t eat the strawberries. I’m allergic to them.

The conditional tense:

• Je ne mangerais pas cette farine >>> I wouldn’t eat that flour.

The perfect tense:

• Je n’ai pas mangé ce soir  >>> I haven’t eaten tonight.

The pluperfect tense:

• Je n’avais pas mangé quand ils sont arrivés >>> I hadn’t eaten when they arrived.

The subjunctive mood:

• Je veux que tu ne manges pas jusqu’à 11 heures ce matin >>> I want you not to eat until 11 am.

The conditional tense:

• Je ne mangerais pas les fraises. J’en suis allergique. >>> I won’t eat the strawberries. I’m allergic to them.

The future perfect tense:

• Je n’aurais pas mangé lorsque tu arriveras >>> I won’t have eaten when you arrive.

The conditional perfect tense:

• Je n’aurais pas mangé ces huîtres. >>> I wouldn’t have eaten these oysters.

To summarize, there are 9 ways to use the negative form in French:

•  ne… pas  >>> not

•  ne… rien  >>> nothing (not anything)

•  ne… plus  >>> no more (no longer)

•  ne… jamais  >>> never (not ever)

•  ne… ni…ni  >>> neither…nor 

•  ne… guère  >>> hardly ever

•  ne… aucun  >>> none (not any)

•  ne… personne  >>> nobody (not anyone)
•  ne… que  >>> only 

Generally, you wrap up the verb. If you are dealing with a compound verb, you will wrap up the auxiliary (the first part).

Hopefully, you are capable of playing with the negative in French. If you still need more help, feel free to reach out.