In Spoken French, the Ne in Negatives May Be Dropped

French negation can be tricky. Normally, to make a statement negative you need to surround the conjugated verb with the formal French negative adverb  ne...pas. However, if youve ever watched French movies or television, or chatted with native speakers, you have almost certainly heard pas (or another negative adverb) used without ne, because this is a typical construction, characteristic of informal and familiar French. Although  the full express  (ne...pas)  is nearly always written out, the ne  is often dropped in spoken French. But  you should be able to construct a sentence, in most cases, using the full ne...pas  that means the same thing.  Pas  without  ne can be used to negate adjectives, adverbs, nouns, pronouns, and verbs.   Purists will tell you that using pas without ne  is wrong (and they tell me I shouldnt teach it), but the reality is that this is how the French speak now.  So if your goal is to sound more French, thats how you should speak, too. Informal Negative Statements Without Ne Je ne sais pas. Je sais pas.  Or even:  Jsais pas,  Sais pas,  and  Chais pas (pronounced  Shai pah). (I dont know.)  Il ne va pas venir. Il va pas venir. (He isnt going to come.)Elle nest pas encore arrivà ©e. Elle est pas encore arrivà ©e. (She hasnt arrived yet.)Ne bouge pas  ! Bouge pas  ! (Dont move!)Il ne faut pas faire à §a  ! Il faut pas faire à §a. (You shouldnt do that!Note: Its not just  ne...pas  constructions where speakers drop the ne; they do as well with all the other negative structures.Je nai plus dargent Jai plus dargent. (I dont have any more money.)Nous ne le voyons jamais Nous le voyons jamais. (We never see him.)Je nai aucune idà ©e Jai aucune idà ©e. (I have no idea.)Je nen sais rien Jen sais rien. (I dont know anything about it.)