Bonjour! For this part: "You cannot say: Tu ne veux venir pas ce soir.
BUT You can say: Tu peux ne pas venir."Is this only true for this sentence? Can someone elaborate on this further and give another example using ne pas/plus/jamais between verbs (like tu peux ne pas venir). Thank you :)
Here is how to parse these sentences (notice to which part the negation applies):
Tu peux ne pas venir. -- Tu peux [ne pas venir] -- You may not come.
Tu ne peux pas venir. -- Tu [ne peux pas] venir. -- You cannot come.
This pattern can be used in other sentences as well:
Tu dois ne pas venir. -- You must not come.
Tu ne dois pas venir. -- You don't have to come.
Tu sais ne pas mentir. -- You know not to lie.
Tu ne sais pas mentir. -- You don't know how to lie.
I'm not sure this is correct for devoir. "Tu ne dois pas venir" would normally mean "you must not come".
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