Latest / Learn French with Fexingo / French Negation Basics - Ne...Pas
Transcript
- Lucas: Bienvenue, welcome back to Learn French with Fexingo. I'm Lucas. Luna: And I'm Luna. Hey Lucas, last episode we got up to 95 in French—my brain is still buzzing from all those quatre-vingt numbers. Lucas: Yeah, those are tricky. But today we're shifting gears. We're going to learn how to say 'no' in French—how to make negative sentences. Luna: Oh finally! I've been wanting to say 'I don't know' without just shrugging. How do we do it? Lucas: It's simple. In French, you wrap the verb with 'ne' and 'pas'. For example: 'je sais' means 'I know'. To say 'I don't know', you say 'je ne sais pas'. Luna: Je ne sais pas. That's... actually pretty straightforward. Say it again? Lucas: Je ne sais pas. Repeat after me: je ne sais pas. Luna: Je ne sais pas. Lucas: Perfect. Now another common one: 'j'ai' means 'I have'. To say 'I don't have', you say 'je n'ai pas'—notice the 'ne' becomes 'n' before a vowel. Luna: Je n'ai pas. So it's like a little shortcut. Je n'ai pas de...? Oh wait, we're just learning the basic pattern. Lucas: Right. For now, just 'je n'ai pas'. Now let's try a different verb: 'c'est' means 'it is'. Negative: 'ce n'est pas'. Luna: Ce n'est pas. That sounds like 'suh nay pah'? Ce n'est pas. Lucas: Exactly. Ce n'est pas. Now 'il y a' means 'there is'. Negative: 'il n'y a pas'. Luna: Il n'y a pas. That's a mouthful. Il n'y a pas. Lucas: You got it. And finally, 'je veux' means 'I want'. Negative: 'je ne veux pas'. Luna: Je ne veux pas. So if I don't want dessert after dinner, I can say 'je ne veux pas de dessert'? I think I've heard that. Lucas: Yes, but the basic pattern is just 'je ne veux pas'. You'll add 'de' later. For now, let's practice all five. Luna: Okay, hit me. Je ne sais pas. Je n'ai pas. Ce n'est pas. Il n'y a pas. Je ne veux pas. Lucas: Wow, that was solid. Let's do a little scene. Imagine you're at a café and the waiter asks if you want a coffee. You say 'je ne veux pas'. Luna: Je ne veux pas. But what if I want tea? Lucas: Then you say 'je veux du thé'. But that's positive. For negative, just 'je ne veux pas'. Luna: Got it. So negation is just wrapping the verb with ne...pas. Ce n'est pas difficile. Lucas: Exactement. Ce n'est pas difficile. And you just used it naturally. Luna: I did! So if Fexingo is helping you make progress with French, maybe you could support the show so we can keep teaching you without any ads. You can buy us a coffee—or tea—at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: That's right. Every little bit helps us keep the episodes ad-free. Now, back to practice. Let's run through the phrases one more time. Luna: All right. Je ne sais pas, je n'ai pas, ce n'est pas, il n'y a pas, je ne veux pas. Lucas: Beau travail, Luna. Keep practicing, and next time we'll add 'ne...plus' and 'ne...jamais'. But for now, remember: ne...pas is your go-to for saying no in French. Merci d'écouter and see you next time. Luna: À bientôt!