Saying no: ne … pas

To say no, put ne before the verb and pas after it: je ne parle pas, elle n'aime pas le café. Ne becomes n' before a vowel or a silent h.

In speech, many people drop ne, but written French always keeps it. After a negation, un, une and des become de: j'ai un chat, je n'ai pas de chat.

Other negations work the same way: ne … jamais (never), ne … plus (no longer), ne … rien (nothing).