NE...PAS
To make a sentence negative, we put ne and pas around the verb.
Je ne joue pas au tennis. [I don't play tennis.]
In Passé Composé, ne and pas go around the auxiliary verb.
Nous n'avons pas vu le film. [We didn't see the film.]
In Reflexive Verbs, the ne goes before the reflexive pronoun.
Il ne se lève pas. [He is not getting up.]
With Imperatives, ne and pas goes around the command.
N'oublie pas ton argent. [Don't forget your money.]
Ne fumez pas! [Don't smoke!]
N'allons pas au cinéma. [Let's not go to the movie.]
If two verbs are used together, ne and pas usually go around the first verb.
Je ne veux pas faire ça. [I don't want to do that.]
If there is an extra pronoun before the verb, ne goes before it.
Je n'en ai pas. [I haven't any.]
Il ne lui a pas téléphoné. [He didn't phone her.]
Use de after the negative instead of du, de la, des, un or une [except with verb être and after ne...que]
Je ne vend pas de lait. [I don't sell milk.]
Je n'ai qu'un stylo. [I have only one pen.]
NE...PLUS
no more, no longer, none left.
Il n'habite plus en France. [He no longer lives in France.]
Il n'en a plus. [There's no more left.]
NE...RIEN
nothing, not anything.
Il n'y a rien dans ton sac. [There's nothing in your purse.]
Je ne veux rien. [I don't want anything.]
NE...JAMAIS
never.
Je ne suis jamais allé à Paris. [I've never been to Paris.]
NE...PERSONNE
nobody, not anybody.
In passé composé, personne goes after the past particle.
Elle n'a vu personne ce matin. [She didn't see anyone this morning.]
Il n'y a personne dans la salle. [There is nobody in the hall.]
NE...NULLE PART
nowhere, not anywhere.
In passé composé, nulle part goes after the past particle.
On ne l'a vu nulle part. [We didn't see it anywhere.]
Je ne vais nulle part. [I am not going anywhere.]
NE...QUE
only.
In passé composé, que goes after the past particle.
Elle n'a que deux livres. [She has only two books.]
Je n'ai passé qu'un jour à Paris. [I only spent a day in Paris.]
NE...NI...NI
neither...nor, not either...or.
Ne...ni...ni go before the word they refer to.
Je n'aime ni le champignon ni l'escargot.
[I like neither mushrooms nor snails.]
Je ne connais ni lui ni ses parents.
[I don't know either him or his parents.]
NE...AUCUN
no, not any.
Aucun (aucune, aucuns, aucunes) is an adjective and agrees with the noun which follows it.
Il n'y a aucun restaurant dans le village.
[There's no restaurant in the village.]
Ça n'a aucune importance. [It's of no importance.]
RIEN NE..., PERSONNE NE...
nothing, nobody.
Rien and Personne are subjects in these sentences.
Personne ne le sait. [Nobody knows.]
Rien n'a changé. [Nothing has changed.]