36 - How to Build Negative Sentences in French
👉 Listen to this episode to learn the basics of French negation. I'll also explain what article to use in negative sentences.
If you’d prefer to listen on the go, listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Links & Cheat Sheet
Lesson cheatsheet: How to Build Negative Sentences in French đź“ť
Lesson exercises: French Exercises Library đź“š
Transcript
Intro: Welcome to the French Made Easy podcast, where I give you all the basics you need to speak French clearly and confidently. I'm your host, Mathilde, and I'm a French teacher, mumpreneur, and bread and cheese lover. Join me as I dive into all things French for beginners, and deliver to you bite-sized and easy-to-follow lessons every Tuesday. Let's get started, "on commence"!
Salut à tous! Hi everyone! Welcome back to the French Made Easy Podcast! This episode number 36, numéro 36. Thanks for joining me here. In today's episode, you'll learn the basics of negation in French. First, you'll learn the steps to take to make a sentence negative, and then you'll learn what article to use with the negation.
So for this episode, I strongly recommend you have your cheat sheet or the transcript in front of you. I've made this lesson as easy for you to understand as possible but as a beginner, still, it's not the easiest, so make sure you follow along with the cheat sheet. And it's free. After the lesson, make sure you go and download your exercises so you can practice what you've learned. It's also free.
Now, are you ready? C'est parti.
The negation "not" comes in two parts in French: "ne... pas." And "ne" becomes "n’" before a vowel.
So let me repeat that, "not" is "ne... pas" or "n'... pas" in French.
Super. Now that we all know that, let's see how to turn a sentence into a negative sentence.
HOW TO TURN A SENTENCE INTO A NEGATIVE SENTENCE
Your first step, before anything else, is to find out the conjugated verb. And I insist on conjugated.
For example:
"I am French." is "Je suis française."
We want to turn that sentence into "I am not French."
"Je suis française." What's the conjugated verb in that sentence? "suis." That's right. The conjugated verb is "suis."
Ok parfait. Now the second step is to add the negation "ne... pas." (not)
To do that, you have to place "ne" before the conjugated verb and "pas" after the conjugated verb.
So for example: "Je suis française." (I am French) gives us "Je ne suis pas française." (I am not French.)
I've placed "ne" before the conjugated verb "suis," and I've placed "pas" after the conjugated verb "suis." "Je ne suis pas française."
Now let's see another example to make sure you've properly understood
"J'ai froid." (I'm cold)
What do we do for our first step? We find out the conjugated verb. Here the conjugated verb is "ai"
Second step, we add "ne" before the conjugated verb "ai" and "pas" after the conjugated verb "ai."
Of course, in that sentence, we have to change "ne" by "n'" because a vowel, the vowel "a" to be precise, follows it.
That gives us -> "Je n'ai pas froid. " "N'" before "ai", pas after "ai."
Alright, so that's the steps to create negative sentences. Now, let's move on to part II of the lesson, which is what article to use in negative sentences.
WHAT ARTICLE TO USE IN NEGATIVE SENTENCES
So hang on tight because that's getting a little more complicated.
Now, for that next part, I need you to make sure you understand properly what the indefinite, definite, and partitive articles are in French.
I've got 3 lessons that explain a bit more in-depth on what they are. So if you need to, put this episode on pause, go listen to these 3 episodes come back to this lesson afterward.
Alright so, when you're turning a sentence negative, the indefinite articles (un, une, des) and partitive articles (du, de l', de la) will be replaced by "de" (or "d" if a vowel follows.) But the definite article le, la, les) do not change.
So let me say that again to make sure it's clear: indefinite & partitives article will change to "de" (or "d'"). Definite articles will not change. Now as you'd expect, there are some exceptions, but we'll see that in a minute.
Alright, so let me give you an example that'll probably be much easier to understand.
"I have a car" -> "J'ai une voiture."
To turn this sentence negative, we add "n'" before the conjugated verb and "pas" after the conjugated verb. It gives us: "Je n'ai pas”
Now, here we have the indefinite article "une." So we go ahead and change it to "de"
It gives us: "Je n'ai pas de voiture."
Another example -> “Il a des gants.” > “Il n’a pas de gants.”
Another example:
"I'm watching TV" -> "Je regarde la télé."
To transform this sentence into a negative sentence, you'll say: "Je ne regarde pas la télé."
Here, because “la” is the definite article, I didn't not change it.
Now, let's see an exception to these rules.
With the verb "ĂŞtre" (to be), you do not change the articles. Even if they are indefinite or partitive articles.
For example.
"I'm a girl." -> "Je suis une fille."
"Je ne suis pas une fille" (I'm not a girl)
Another example:
"It's chocolate." -> "C'est du chocolat. "
"Ce n'est pas du chocolat." (It's not chocolate.)
Alright, I hope that makes sense, and I hope I didn't overwhelm you too much. But really, that's the basics of negation. There's more to learn about the negation, but that'll be for future episodes. For now, as a beginner, that's pretty much what you need to learn.
That's already the end of the lesson! If you've liked this episode, let me know and leave me a review on Apple Podcast. Now don't forget to download your lesson's exercises. It's free.
Thanks for your time. I'll talk to you next week.
Merci beaucoup et Ă bientĂ´t. đź’—