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Je sais pas - French Mistake?

French mistakes analyzed and explained

By Laura K. Lawless, About.com

Mistakes will always be made in French, and now you can learn from them.

Wrong? Je sais pas

Right: Je ne sais pas

Explanation: In French, negation normally requires two words: ne before the verb and something like pas or rien after it. So "I don't know" is je ne sais pas and "I didn't do anything" is je n'ai rien fait. In informal spoken French, however, ne is nearly always dropped, so it's perfectly normal to hear je sais pas and j'ai rien fait.

Related lessons: French negation | Informal French
 

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