A real negation with half the tools
After a handful of verbs, ne on its own negates, with no pas at all. The sentence means the same as with pas, but sounds polished and written. You will find this form in speeches, letters, essays and newspaper columns, and you can use it there yourself.
Same statement, two registers
Courant
Je ne peux pas vous dire.
I can't tell you.
Il n'arrête pas de pleuvoir.
It won't stop raining.
Soutenu
Je ne saurais vous dire.
I could not tell you.
Il ne cesse de pleuvoir.
It rains incessantly.
The four verbs
The core is four verbs, usually followed by an infinitive: cesser, oser, pouvoir and savoir. With savoir in the conditional (je ne saurais) pas is usually left out entirely; with the others it is optional.
With ne alone
| Verb | Soutenu | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| cesser de | Elle ne cesse de nous surprendre. | She never stops surprising us. |
| oser | Je n'ose y croire. | I hardly dare believe it. |
| pouvoir | Je ne puis accepter ces conditions. | I cannot accept these terms. |
| savoir | Je ne saurais trop vous remercier. | I cannot thank you enough. |
Je ne puis is the old form of je ne peux. Apart from the question puis-je, you will meet it almost only in this negation. Je ne saurais does not mean I wouldn't know, but I could not: a polite, firm refusal.
savoir + question word
When savoir is followed by a question word, pas is often dropped as well: je ne sais que faire, je ne sais quoi dire, je ne sais si. It expresses being at a loss.
Je ne sais que faire.
I don't know what to do.
Elle ne savait si elle devait rire ou pleurer.
She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Fixed phrases
Some phrases have preserved ne on its own. They are alive in careful conversation too.
Vous êtes de Lyon, si je ne m'abuse ?
You're from Lyon, if I'm not mistaken?
N'ayez crainte, tout est réglé.
Never fear, everything is settled.
Il y a des années que je ne l'ai vu.
I haven't seen him for years.
After il y a … que with a compound tense
Il écouta sans broncher et ne dit mot.
He listened without flinching and said not a word.
