This deep dive covers La structure de base — The core structure within Negatives: ne...pas, ne...jamais, ne...rien for GCSE French. Revise Negatives: ne...pas, ne...jamais, ne...rien in Core Grammar Toolkit for GCSE French with 15 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 2 of 7 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
📋 La structure de base — The core structure
All negatives in French work as a two-part sandwich: ne (or n') comes immediately before the conjugated verb, and the second part comes immediately after it.
Je ne mange pas de viande.
I do not eat meat.
- ne sits before the verb mange; pas sits after it — the verb is wrapped.
- The article after the negative changes: de la viande → de viande (see Topic 1).
Je n'aime pas les maths.
I don't like maths.
- ne becomes n' before a vowel (or mute h) — elision is mandatory.
- les maths uses the definite article — definite articles do NOT change after a negative.
Practice questions for Negatives: ne...pas, ne...jamais, ne...rien
Which sentence correctly makes 'je mange' negative in French?
What does 'je ne mange jamais de viande' mean in English?