Understanding Negation in French – “Ne… pas” and “Pas de”

In French, to form a basic negative sentence, we use “ne” before the verb and “pas” after the verb.

• Je mange (I eat) → Je ne mange pas (I don’t eat)

Key Tip:

After negation, “de” replaces “un/une/des” or any indefinite quantity.

• Je mange des pâtes. (I eat pasta.)
• Je ne mange pas de pâtes. (I don’t eat pasta.)

This is important! After “pas”, you’ll use “de” no matter what the quantity was before.

Examples of Negation with “Pas de”

Here are some examples in action:

1. J’ai un chat. (I have a cat.)
   → Je n’ai pas de chat. (I don’t have a cat.)
2. Nous mangeons du pain. (We eat some bread.)
   → Nous ne mangeons pas de pain. (We don’t eat any bread.)
3. Ils ont des enfants. (They have children.)
   → Ils n’ont pas d’enfants. (They don’t have any children.)

Common Error to Avoid:

❌ Don’t forget to drop the “des/du/de la” and replace it with “de” after “pas”.

For example:

• Je ne bois pas de café. (Correct ✅)
• Je ne bois pas du café. (Incorrect ❌)

Quick Quiz!

Turn these sentences into negative form:

1. Je mange des fruits.
2. Il a un chien.
3. Elle boit du vin.

Watch the tutorial here.