1

I was taught in a beginner college french course that any negation is of the form "ne verb pas", but I've stumbled across "J'ai pas faim" as a way to write "Je n'ai faim pas", and I was wondering if the former was more colloquial? If yes, then can it be used for other expressions, like for example "Je suis pas seul," instead of "Je ne suis pas seul"?

| improve this question | |
  • 5
    « Je n'ai faim pas » is wrong. It’s « Je n’ai pas faim » (the verb here is avoir) – Stéphane Dec 21 '16 at 15:53
  • 1
    Also note that for « Je ne sais pas » you’ll often hear « J’sais pas » which roughly prononces like « chépa » ;) Can be quite disturbing for a foreigner… – Stéphane Dec 21 '16 at 15:56
  • 1
    @Stéphane : "chépa" is equivalent to "dunno". – Bebs Dec 21 '16 at 17:13
1

"J'ai pas faim" is informal language, a shortened version of "Je n'ai pas faim". The ne is very oftenly removed in everyday common speaking (friends, family...).

| improve this answer | |
  • 1
    I want to add that you may remove "ne" in an informal conversation, but never omit "pas". – fffred Dec 21 '16 at 18:59
  • To be more precise, using "je n'ai faim" never occurs in a normal conversation – fffred Dec 21 '16 at 19:00

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.