French Negation Beyond pas

Once ne... pas is automatic, French hands you a second tier of negatives that don't all behave the same way. Some aren't even negatives - ne... que means "only". Some rewrite the articles around them. And in the passé composé they split into two camps over where the second element lands. The core four pairs (pas, plus, jamais, rien, personne) live on the French negation page; this page picks up where that one stops.

ne... que: "only", and not a real negative

ne... que means only. Despite the ne, it is a restriction, not a negation. The que sits directly in front of the thing it restricts.

• Je ne bois que de l'eau. (I drink only water.)
• Il ne mange que le soir. (He only eats in the evening.)
• Elle n'a que dix ans. (She is only ten.)
• On ne vit qu'une fois. (You only live once.)

Because que clamps onto whatever follows it, moving the que moves the meaning:

• Il ne mange que des légumes le soir. (He eats only vegetables in the evening - the restriction is on what.)
• Il ne mange des légumes que le soir. (He eats vegetables only in the evening - the restriction is on when.)

ne... que keeps the articles (no de rule)

This is the trap. After ne... pas, the indefinite and partitive articles collapse to de (je ne bois pas d'eau). After ne... que they stay intact, because que is not a true negative:

• Je ne bois que de l'eau. (not "que d'eau")
• Il ne lit que des bandes dessinées. (He reads only comics.)
• Elle ne mange que du chocolat. (She eats only chocolate.)

If you ever do see ne... que de with a bare de, it's the restriction landing on a noun that already had de for another reason, not the negation rule kicking in.

ne... que vs seulement

seulement is the plain adverb for "only" and does the same job without the ne:

• Je ne bois que de l'eau. = Je bois seulement de l'eau. (I drink only water.)
• Il n'a que trois euros. = Il a seulement trois euros. (He has only three euros.)

The two are interchangeable in meaning. ne... que is tighter and more idiomatic; seulement is easier to place because it's a single word. Use whichever you can build cleanly under exam pressure.

A quick recap: plus, jamais, rien, personne

These four are taught in depth on the core negation page, so just the headline here:

• Je n'habite plus à Paris. (I no longer live in Paris.)
• Elle ne fume jamais. (She never smokes.)
• Je ne vois rien. (I see nothing.)
• Il ne connaît personne ici. (He knows nobody here.)

All four take the de rule after them, exactly like pas (je n'ai plus d'argent, je ne mange jamais de viande). The new arrivals below are the ones worth dwelling on.

ni... ni: "neither... nor"

ni... ni links two negated items: neither X nor Y. The ne still sits before the verb, and a ni goes in front of each item.

• Je n'aime ni le café ni le thé. (I like neither coffee nor tea.)
• Il ne parle ni anglais ni espagnol. (He speaks neither English nor Spanish.)
• Elle n'a ni frère ni soeur. (She has neither a brother nor a sister.)

The dropped article

After ni... ni, the indefinite and partitive articles disappear entirely - no un, une, des, du, de la. You don't even get the de that pas would leave behind:

• J'ai un frère et une soeur. -> Je n'ai ni frère ni soeur. (not "ni un frère ni une soeur")
• Je bois du café et du thé. -> Je ne bois ni café ni thé. (not "ni du café ni du thé")

The definite article and possessives stay, because they point to specific things:

• Je n'aime ni le café ni le thé. (the definite article survives)
• Il n'a vu ni mes parents ni mon frère. (the possessives survive)

Verb agreement with ni... ni subjects

When ni... ni joins two subjects, the verb is usually plural, though singular is tolerated:

• Ni mon père ni ma mère ne sont venus. (Neither my father nor my mother came.)
• Ni Paul ni Marie ne le savent. (Neither Paul nor Marie knows it.)

Note the ne still appears before the verb even when the ni... ni sits out in front as the subject.

aucun(e): "no, none, not any"

aucun means no / none / not any. It pairs with ne (ne... aucun) and is always singular - there is no plural of "not a single one".

As an adjective (aucun + noun)

It agrees in gender with the noun but stays singular: aucun (masc), aucune (fem).

• Je n'ai aucune idée. (I have no idea.)
• Il n'y a aucun problème. (There is no problem.)
• Elle n'a fait aucun effort. (She made no effort.)

As a pronoun (aucun standing alone)

It can stand in for the noun entirely, often with de + a group:

• Aucun de mes amis n'est venu. (None of my friends came.)
• Aucune de ces robes ne me plaît. (None of these dresses appeals to me.)
• - Tu as des questions? - Aucune. (Any questions? None.)

When aucun leads as the subject, the ne stays before the verb: aucun n'a répondu (none answered).

nulle part: "nowhere"

nulle part is the negative of "somewhere / anywhere". It pairs with ne and is invariable.

• Je ne vais nulle part. (I'm not going anywhere.)
• On ne le trouve nulle part. (You can't find it anywhere.)
• Je ne l'ai vu nulle part. (I didn't see it anywhere.)

It's the negative partner of quelque part (somewhere). Like the noun-like negatives, it trails the past participle in the passé composé (see below).

Position in the passé composé

Here the second tier splits in two. Some negatives slot between the auxiliary and the past participle, exactly like pas. Others land after the past participle.

Before the participle (the adverb-like ones, same as pas):

• Je n'ai plus faim. -> compound: Je n'ai plus mangé. (I didn't eat any more.)
• Je n'ai jamais vu ce film. (I have never seen this film.)
• Je n'ai rien dit. (I said nothing.)

After the participle (the noun-like ones):

• Je n'ai vu personne. (I saw nobody.)
• Je n'ai bu que de l'eau. (I drank only water.)
• Je n'ai vu aucun film. (I saw no film.)
• Je ne suis allé nulle part. (I went nowhere.)

The logic: pas, plus, jamais, rien behave like short adverbs and tuck inside; personne, que + noun, aucun, nulle part behave like objects or place complements and follow the verb's full form. The ne is always before the auxiliary either way.

Worked examples

• Je ne bois que de l'eau le matin. (I only drink water in the morning.)
• Elle n'a ni téléphone ni ordinateur. (She has neither a phone nor a computer.)
• Il n'y a aucune raison de s'inquiéter. (There is no reason to worry.)
• Aucun de ces livres ne m'intéresse. (None of these books interests me.)
• Je n'ai vu personne à la fête. (I saw nobody at the party.)
• On ne l'a trouvé nulle part. (We didn't find it anywhere.)
• Je n'ai mangé que du pain et du fromage. (I ate only bread and cheese.)
• Ni lui ni elle ne parlent français. (Neither he nor she speaks French.)

Common mistakes English speakers make

Treating ne... que as a real negative and collapsing the article: je ne bois que d'eau is wrong, it's je ne bois que de l'eau - the de rule does not apply to "only". Leaving the articles in after ni... ni: je n'ai ni un frère ni une soeur is wrong, it's je n'ai ni frère ni soeur. Pluralising aucun: there is no aucuns for ordinary use - it stays singular, aucune idée, not aucunes idées. Putting personne or que before the past participle on the pas pattern: je n'ai personne vu is wrong, it's je n'ai vu personne; je n'ai que bu de l'eau is wrong, it's je n'ai bu que de l'eau. And forgetting the ne when a negative word leads as subject: aucun a répondu is wrong, it's aucun n'a répondu.

See also

• The core French negation page covers ne... pas, jamais, rien, personne, the article-becomes-de rule, and the colloquial ne-drop.
• The French articles page covers the indefinite and partitive articles that ni... ni strips out and the de rule that ne... que ignores.
• The French grammar cheatsheet covers the wider A1-B2 grammar map.