Look at these negative complex sentences:
Tu ne veux pas venir ce soir ?
Don't you want to come tonight?
Je ne vais plus faire ton travail pour toi.
I'm not going to do your work for you anymore.
Elle ne viendra jamais voir sa pièce.
She will never come to see his play.
Nous ne savions pas lire avant.
We couldn't read before.
Note that in sentences with both a conjugated verb AND an infinitive, the negations ne...pas / ne...jamais / ne...plus etc are placed on each side of the conjugated verb.
You CANNOT say : Tu ne veux venir pas ce soir.
ATTENTION: You can say : Tu peux ne pas venir. but in that case, it means ''You can NOT come, you're allowed not to come.''
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Je ne vais plus faire ton travail pour toi.
I'm not going to do your work for you anymore.
Tu ne veux pas venir ce soir ?
Don't you want to come tonight?
Nous ne savions pas lire avant.
We couldn't read before.
Elle ne peut pas chanter.
She can't sing.
Je ne veux pas jouer.
I don't want to play.
Elle ne viendra jamais voir sa pièce.
She will never come to see his play.
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
10/10/18
Je n'aurais pas dû trop manger.
You need the conditionel passé because the action is already in the past.
Chris
Kwiziq community member
10/10/18
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
10/10/18
Hi Bill,
Actually the correct translation of 'I shouldn't have eaten so much' would be :
Je n'aurais pas dû autant manger
Hope this helps!
Bill
Kwiziq community member
10/10/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
1/08/18
Hi Lewis,
The futur proche is constructed by the conjuaged form of "aller" + infinitive:
Je vais célébrer. -- I am going to celebrate.
Ils vont célébrer. -- They are going to celebrate.
-- Chris.
Lewis
Kwiziq community member
1/08/18
Alicia
Kwiziq community member
17/04/18
Hi Sue,
What is your question exactely ? Is it about the verbal forms?
The correct way to say it is 'Nous ne devrions plus fumer' (Nous ne devrions plus + inf)
Do we say 'She shouldn't smokes anymore' ?
Je te laisse réfléchir à tout ça (I let you think!)
Chris
Kwiziq community member
12/02/18
Which sentence are you referring to?
-- Chris.
Dingdong
Kwiziq community member
9 January 2018
2 replies
'Nous ne savions pas lire avant' why we use indicatif imparfait of 'savoir' in here ?
Chris
Kwiziq community member
10/01/18
The imperfect tense is used because it refers to a longer lasting state as kind of a background description.
Another example:
We were cold and hungry those days.
Hier nous avons eu faim donc on est rentrés.
Yesterday we were hungry, so we returned.
In the first example the description is about a longer lasting state and describes sets the scene for maybe a further statement whatever might have happened then.
In the second example it is about getting hungry and then returning, i.e., two occurences which both describe what HAPPENED (i.e., an action) and not what WAS (i.e., a state of being).
I hope that helps,
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
10/01/18
To complete Chris' excellent answer, here are links to our lessons on how to use L'Imparfait :
Bonne journée !
Bill
Kwiziq community member
10 October 2018
5 replies
Various verb tenses
Hello, i'm probably getting ahead of myself (only been studying French for 2 months) but wanted to see if anyone would be willing to let me know if I'm correct or not on below conjugations.
I ate = j'ai mangé
I was eating / used to eat = je mangaisI should eat = je devrais mangerI will eat = je mangeraiI should not eat = je ne devrais pas mangerI will have eaten = j'aurai mangéI will not have eaten yet = je n'aurai pas mangé encoreI had eaten = j'avais mangéI had not eaten yet = je n'avais mangé encoreI have to eat = je doit mangerI can't eat right now = je ne peux pas manger maintenant/tout de suite?I should have eaten = j'aurais pas dû mangerIt seems in general that "should" future uses conditional present and "should" future uses conditional past.I apologize in advance if this is too much for a single post :(Bill
Kwiziq community member
10 October 2018
10/10/18
oops, correction.
I should have eaten = J'aurai dû mangé ?
Chris
Kwiziq community member
11 October 2018
11/10/18
I had not eaten yet -- Je n'avais pas encore mangé
I have to eat -- Je dois manger
I should have eaten -- J'aurais dû manger
Bill
Kwiziq community member
11 October 2018
11/10/18
Merci beaucoup! I realized I had a couple stupid errors in my original post (je doit, par exemple eek) & the "pas" in my translation of I should have eaten - oops!
I understand my error in reposting "Je aurai dû..." should have been "aurais", (because doubt, certainty, wish, etc. requires conditional?) i think that was a typo the 2nd time around. I guess i had that correct initially (minus the "pas"), and shouldn't have changed the verb form for manger.
I need to read up more on the placement of adverbs such as "encore" around the pas, that is a little confusing to me. To me, the "encore" sounds better after pas, but that obviously doesn't mean anything.
Oh also to say "right now" in that context is it better to say maintenant or tout de suite?
Thanks so much! This site is awesome, i'm learning a lot from it.
Bill
Kwiziq community member
11 October 2018
11/10/18
oh and i had a spelling error. I used to eat s/b Je mangeais.
thanks again.
Chris
Kwiziq community member
12 October 2018
12/10/18