You probably learned in school that the negative in French is formed with two words surrounding the verb: âneâ (or nâ) and âpasâ.
Then, you go to France, and you are shocked to never hear the âne.â
Itâs because we donât use it. Rather, I should say, we glide so quickly over it that it disappears to the ear.
1 â The Ne Disappears in Spoken French
First, you should know that no French person today in France would say: âJe NE comprends pasâ like the over-enunciated French teaching method are teaching you.
When French people speak, they are likely to say something that sounds like âJeun compran paâ, gliding over the âneâ part of the negative.
In Paris, we even omit the âneâ altogether; the âjeâ becomes kind of a âshâ sound and the whole thing is pronounced âshcompran pa.â
2 â Spoken French is Different From Written French
We still write âJe ne comprends pas.â â with all the silent French letters!
This is why I often say that written French and spoken French are like two different languages.
However, when someone texts for example, youâll see âjâcomprends pasâ, immitating the way we actually speak. This is not correct or proper French, and I donât encourage you to write this way, but youâll see it.

In-depth audiobook covering the foundations as well as the difficulties of todayâs French pronunciation
3 â Without the âneâ How do you Know the French Sentence in Negative?
So, how do you know a sentence is in the negative if you donât say the âneâ in French?
You need to focus on the other parts of the negative:
- the âpasâ orâŠ
- âjamaisâ (never),
- ârienâ (nothing),
- âaucunâ (no or none),
- âpersonneâ (no one),
- and other negative words
that replace the pas, to understand that the sentence is in the negative.
4 â Schools Seldom Teach This Modern French Pronunciation
Unfortunately, schools and recordings made for students of French donât usually teach this modern âstreetâ French pronunciation. They over-enunciate French, they hang on to a âprettierâ, fancier and proper French language that is nowadays a fictionâŠ
If this concept is new to you, it is essential you train on it with audio recordings featuring modern French -I highly recommend you check out my unique downloadable French audiobooks, featuring different speeds of recording and enunciation, and focussing on todayâs modern glided pronunciation.
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