ne

The Pronoun Ne

Level 4

Ne replaces de plus a noun: Vòles de pan? Òc, ne vòli.

How It Works

Without neWith ne
Vòli de pan.Ne vòli.
Ai dos fraires.N'ai dos.
Avèm pas de dròlles.N'avèm pas.
I a tres libres.N'i a tres.

The word is always ne, never en. En is the French form.

Ne stays before the verb in every tense, and in the compound past it stands before the auxiliary: N'ai crompat tres (I bought three of them). In a negative sentence, pas follows the verb: N'ai pas.

Ne can join another pronoun in one word, as in me'n and te'n. Those pairs come later, in the entry on two pronouns together.

Examples (5)

  1. Vòles de pan? Òc, ne vòli.

    Do you want some bread? Yes, I want some.

    Ne replaces de pan.

  2. Fraires? N'ai dos.

    Brothers? I have two.

    N'ai dos: the number stays after the verb.

  3. Dròlles? N'avèm pas.

    Children? We have none.

    N'avèm pas: n' before a vowel, pas after the verb.

  4. Cafè? N'i a pas mai.

    Coffee? There is no more.

    N'i a joins ne and i a.

  5. N'ai crompat tres.

    I bought three of them.

    In the compound past, ne stands before the auxiliary.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the French pronoun en.

    Vòles de pan? Òc, en vòli.
    Vòles de pan? Òc, ne vòli.

    Occitan writes ne, and n' before a vowel.

  • Putting ne after the verb.

    Vòli ne.
    Ne vòli.

    Ne stands before the conjugated verb.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

neLevel 4The Pronoun Ne

Learn This First

Ne stands for a quantity of something already mentioned, so the partitive de and the object pronouns come first.

Words in This Pattern

ne