LES NÉGATIONS

ne...pas

Where do you place ne ... pas?

1. In sentences with simple verbs

    a. Place ne before the verb and pas after the verb.

                La grammaire ne posa pas de problème non plus.(Cousture)
                Fanny, ne dis pas ça! (Pagnol)
                Tu n'es pas mon frère. (Pagnol)

        Object pronouns are placed between ne and the verb.

                Je ne te demande pas si tu as travaillé hier soir. (Aymé)
                Fanny ne me quitte pas fâchée. (Pagnol)
                Je ne m'en vais pas. (Pagnol)

        Remember that ne changes to n' before a verb beginning with a vowel or a silent h.

    b. In questions, place ne before the verb and inverted subject pronoun and pas after them.
       Object pronouns are placed between ne and the verb and inverted subject pronoun.
 
       In questions using est-ce que, place ne before the verb and pas after the verb.

    c. In sentences containing a verb followed by an infinitive, place ne before the conjugated verb
        and pas after it.

2.  In sentences with compount verbs

    Place ne in front of the auxiliary verb avoir or être and pas after the auxiliary verb.

            Je n'ai pas fait mon devoir de français. (Aymé)
            Alma-Rose n'a pas été trop haïssable. (Hémon)

3. To negate an infinitive, place both ne and pas in front of the infinitive. This applies to both the present and the past infinitive.

        Le mère, préférant ne pas assister de trop près à une scène pénible, fuyait vers un placard.
        (Aymé)
        Je vous prierai de ne pas entraver mes efforts dans l'éducation de mon fils. (Aymé)
        Télésphore prétendait de ne pas entendre. (Hémon)

When ne ...pas is followed by the indefinite particle or the partitive

Remember that after ne...pas, as well as after other negatives, the indefinitive article (un, une, des) and the partitive article (du, de la, de l', des) usually change to de. They can be translated as not any or no. Sometimes they are not translated at all.

When pas de is used without ne or a verb it can be translated as no before a noun.
 

ne ... jamais, ne ... plus, ne ... point

These negatives follow the same rules as ne... pas.

            Le père Moisan se n'éveillait jamais à 7 heures.
            Les jours suivants ses malaises ne revinrent plus.
            Ephrem ne peut point remettre ses bottes.
            Ne me pose plus de questions. (Pagnol)
            Elles ne pleurent plus, ne veulent plus attendre. (Julien)

ne ... pas encore

     Maria n'avait pas encore fini de répondre aux questions.

ne ... rien

Ne ... rien is  negative pronoun that follows the same rules as ne ... pas, except that when used with verbs that take a preposition, rien directly follows the preposition.

            Mélie n'a rien fait pour le convaincre de consulter un médecin.
            Il n'avait rien dit qui justifiât un tel départ. (Aymé)
            Lucien comprit qu'il ne gagnerait rien à faire traîner les choses. (Aymé)
            Il n'y a rien d'autre. (Pagnol)
            Elle ne sert plus à rien, son effet entièrement produit. (Renard)

Rien ne can be used a a subject.

Remember that pas is never used with the negative expression ne ... rien.
 

ne ... personne

In  simple tenses, ne ... personne follows the same rules as the other negatives.

            Je n'attends personne. (Pagnol)
            Ce n'est personne. (Pagnol)

In the following situations, however, it behaves differently:

In compound tenses, personne follows the auxiliary verb.
As the object of an infinitive, personne follows the infinitive.

Personne ne can be used a a subject.

            Personne n'osa lever la main. (Cousture)
            Personne ne le saura. (Pagnol)

Remember that pas is never used with the negative expression ne ... personne.
 

ne ... que

Ne ... que is a restrictive expression meaning only. (It can be replaced by the adverb seulement.) Que should be placed directly in front of the word it modifies.

            Mélie ne se fiait qu'aux plantes médicinales.
            Mélie se fiait seulement aux plantes médicinales.

            Toute intervention ne pouvait que gâter les choses. (Aymé)
            Comme on le trouve toujours sale, il n'ôte que le plus gros. (Renard)
 

The indefinite and partitive articles (un, une, du, de la, de l', des) do not change to de after ne ... que.

ne ... aucun(e), aucun(e) ... ne

The adjective aucun(e) is stronger than ne ... pas. It means no, not any, not a single. Place it in front of the noun it modifies.  Since it is an adjective, it agrees in number and gender with the noun it modifies.  Aucun(e) is usually used in the singular.
 
Aucun(e) ... ne can be used to modify a subject. Then it precedes the noun it modifies and ne precedes the verb.

Aucun(e) (not a single one, none) can also be used as a singular pronoun.

        Aucun ne réussit à épeler correctement le mot. (Cousture)

ne ... ni ... ni

In the expression ne ... ni ... ni the negative adverb ne is placed in front of the verb and the conjunctions ni .. ni (neither ... nor) are placed in front of the words they modify.

The indefinite article and the partitive are omitted after ni ... ni, but the definite article is retained.

            Ni les jambes ni les pieds d'Ephrem n'étaient enflés.
            Ni ses filles ni sa femme ne purent se résoudre à l'approuver. (Aymé)

Remember that ni may be used more than twice.

oui, non, si

The adverbs oui and non are ordinarily used to mean yes and no. The more emphatic form, si, however, is used for yes in response to a negative statement or question.

je crois que oui, je crois que non

Je crois que oui, je crois que non can be translated as I think so, I don't think so (I think not).
personne + de +adjective

In order to express no one + adjective in English, use personne followed by the masculine singular of the adjective. An adverb like si, très, plus, etc. is sometimes placed in front of the adjective for emphasis.

The indefinite pronoun quelqu'un is also used with de + masculine adjective.

rien + de +adjective

In order to express nothing + adjective in English, use rien followed by the masculine singular of the adjective. An adverb like si, très, plus, etc. is sometimes placed in front of the adjective for emphasis.

If rien is the direct object of a compound verb, it is separted from de and the adjective by the past participle.

The indefinite pronoun quelque chose is also used with de + masculine adjective.

ne ... pas du tout

The expression ne ... pas du tout means not at all.

(ni) ... non plus

The expression (ni)... non plus is the equivalent of neither in phrases like neither do I, neither will he, etc. It is used only with stress pronouns. In spoken French, ni is frequently dropped.

de rien, il n'y a pas de quoi

Both of these expressions are the equivalent of you're welcome.