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
Elle ne viendra jamais voir sa pièce.
She will never come to see his play.
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.
Q&A
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 !
Lewis
Kwiziq community member
31 July 2018
2 replies
Correction of conjugated verb
The test question: My mates are not going to celebrate the new year.
HINT: Use Le Futur Proche
I wrote: Mes potes n'iront pas célébrer la nouvelle année.
Correct answer: Mes potes ne vont pas célébrer la nouvelle année.
If 'vont' is Le Présent and 'iront' is Le Futur, then why would my answer be incorrect?
Chris
Kwiziq community member
1 August 2018
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 August 2018
1/08/18