8.9.2
Negatives (2/2)
Test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
Two verbs
In the two verbs, for example the perfect tense, the 'ne...pas' or other negatives go around the first verb.

Tenses that use 'avoir' or 'être'
- For tenses that use 'avoir' or 'être' then a past participle, the negative goes around the conjugated part of 'avoir' or 'être'.
- Je n'ai pas mangé - I did not eat.
- Je n'étais pas allé - I did not go.

Two verbs
- When there are two verbs, the negative clause goes around the first verb.
- Je n'aime pas faire de la natation - I do not like to swim.
- Je ne veux pas aller à l'école - I do not want to go to school.
Infinitives
To make an infinitive negative, you put the negative (e.g. 'ne pas') before the infinitive. This is only when the negative refers to the infinitive.

Ne pas
- Je préfère ne pas parler de la méteo.
- I prefer to not speak about the weather.
- Here the negative refers to speak.

Other negatives
- J'aime ne rien faire.
- I like to do nothing.
- Here the negative refers to 'faire'.
- Il était heureux de ne plus avoir besoin d'aller à l'école.
- He was happy that he no longer needed to go to school.
- Here, the negative refers to 'needing to'.
1Everyday Activities
1.1Time Expressions
1.2Food & Drink
1.3The Human Body & Health
2Personal & Social Life
2.1Self, Family & Friends
2.2In the Home
2.4Clothes & Accessories
3The World Around Us
3.1People & Places
3.2Natural World, Environment, Climate & Weather
3.3Communications & Technology
3.4The Built Environment
3.5Measurements
3.6Materials
4The World of Work
4.1Education
5The International World
6Common Tenses
6.1Present Tense
6.1.1Regular ER Verbs6.1.2Regular IR Verbs6.1.3Regular RE Verbs6.1.4Reflexive Verbs6.1.5Irregular ER Verbs (1/2)6.1.6Irregular ER Verbs (2/2)6.1.7Irregular IR Verbs (1/2)6.1.8Irregular IR Verbs (2/2)6.1.9Irregular RE Verbs (1/3)6.1.10Irregular RE Verbs (2/3)6.1.11Irregular RE Verbs (3/3)6.1.12Present Participle (1/2)6.1.13Present Participle (2/2)6.1.14Irregular Present Participles6.1.15Avoir & Être6.1.16'Depuis' + Present Tense6.1.17'Venir De' + Present Tense
6.2Perfect Tense
6.3Imperfect tense
6.4Imperfect vs Perfect
7Advanced Tenses
7.1Conditional Tense
8Extra Grammar
8.1Articles
8.2The Passive Voice
8.3Pronouns
8.3.1Personal Pronouns (1/2)8.3.2Personal Pronouns (2/2)8.3.3Reflexive Pronouns8.3.4Direct Object Pronouns: Le, La, Les, L'8.3.5Direct Object Pronouns: Agreement8.3.6Direct Object Pronouns: Imperative8.3.7Indirect Object Pronouns: Lui, Leur8.3.8DO & IO Pronouns: Combination8.3.9Demonstrative Pronouns8.3.10Neutral Demonstrative Pronouns8.3.11Interrogative Pronouns8.3.12Relative Pronouns8.3.13Possessive Pronouns8.3.14Indefinite Pronouns8.3.15Ça, Cela8.3.16Celui8.3.17Emphatic Pronouns
8.4Asking Questions
8.5Nouns
8.7Adverbs
8.8Adjectives
8.9Negative
8.10Conjunctions
8.11Miscellaneous
Jump to other topics
1Everyday Activities
1.1Time Expressions
1.2Food & Drink
1.3The Human Body & Health
2Personal & Social Life
2.1Self, Family & Friends
2.2In the Home
2.4Clothes & Accessories
3The World Around Us
3.1People & Places
3.2Natural World, Environment, Climate & Weather
3.3Communications & Technology
3.4The Built Environment
3.5Measurements
3.6Materials
4The World of Work
4.1Education
5The International World
6Common Tenses
6.1Present Tense
6.1.1Regular ER Verbs6.1.2Regular IR Verbs6.1.3Regular RE Verbs6.1.4Reflexive Verbs6.1.5Irregular ER Verbs (1/2)6.1.6Irregular ER Verbs (2/2)6.1.7Irregular IR Verbs (1/2)6.1.8Irregular IR Verbs (2/2)6.1.9Irregular RE Verbs (1/3)6.1.10Irregular RE Verbs (2/3)6.1.11Irregular RE Verbs (3/3)6.1.12Present Participle (1/2)6.1.13Present Participle (2/2)6.1.14Irregular Present Participles6.1.15Avoir & Être6.1.16'Depuis' + Present Tense6.1.17'Venir De' + Present Tense
6.2Perfect Tense
6.3Imperfect tense
6.4Imperfect vs Perfect
7Advanced Tenses
7.1Conditional Tense
8Extra Grammar
8.1Articles
8.2The Passive Voice
8.3Pronouns
8.3.1Personal Pronouns (1/2)8.3.2Personal Pronouns (2/2)8.3.3Reflexive Pronouns8.3.4Direct Object Pronouns: Le, La, Les, L'8.3.5Direct Object Pronouns: Agreement8.3.6Direct Object Pronouns: Imperative8.3.7Indirect Object Pronouns: Lui, Leur8.3.8DO & IO Pronouns: Combination8.3.9Demonstrative Pronouns8.3.10Neutral Demonstrative Pronouns8.3.11Interrogative Pronouns8.3.12Relative Pronouns8.3.13Possessive Pronouns8.3.14Indefinite Pronouns8.3.15Ça, Cela8.3.16Celui8.3.17Emphatic Pronouns
8.4Asking Questions
8.5Nouns
8.7Adverbs
8.8Adjectives
8.9Negative
8.10Conjunctions
8.11Miscellaneous
Practice questions on Negatives (2/2)
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1How do you say 'I had not eaten' in French?Multiple choice
- 2What would 'j'ai mangé les champignons' be in the negative?Multiple choice
- 3How do you say 'she prefers to not speak' in French?Multiple choice
- 4Select the correct negative infinitives:True / false
- 5
Unlock your full potential with Seneca Premium
Unlimited access to 10,000+ open-ended exam questions
Mini-mock exams based on your study history
Unlock 800+ premium courses & e-books