When you want to say that something DIDN’T happen in the past, you will need to make a negative statement in the Passé Composé. This is easy to do.

You wrap the “ne…pas” (or other negative term) around the “avoir” or “être” part of the Passé Composé.

Verbs conjugated with AVOIR (most verbs)

French	English
je n’ai pas parlé	I have not spoken
tu n’as pas parlé	you have not spoken
il n’a pas parlé	he has not spoken
nous n’avons pas parlé	we have not spoken
vous n’avez pas parlé	you have not spoken
ils n’ont pas parlé	they have not spoken

Verbs conjugated with ÊTRE (see this post)

French	English
je ne suis pas allé	I have not gone
tu n’es pas allé	you have not gone
il n’est pas allé	he has not gone
nous ne sommes pas allés	we have not gone
vous n’êtes pas allés	you have not gone
ils ne sont pas allés	they have not gone

Note

Remember to add an “e” to the past participle (“allé” in this example) if the subject is feminine. This changes the spelling, but only changes the sound in “mourir” (to die), eg “elle est morte” (she died). It will also affect past participles in reflexive verbs such as “mettre” in the Passé Composé, but stay tuned for more about that topic in a future post.

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