Learn French: Le message n'est pas clair. - The message is not clear.

In French, the negative word ne drops its 'e' and becomes n' when the following verb starts with a vowel (like est) or a silent 'h'. This is called elision, and it prevents two vowel sounds from clashing, making the sentence flow more smoothly!

Where exactly do the two parts of the negation (n' and pas) go?

They wrap around the conjugated verb like a sandwich. Here, the verb is est (is). The n' goes right before it, and the pas goes right after it, giving us the negative phrase n'est pas (is not).

Does the spelling of clair change depending on what is being described?

Yes! Because le message is a masculine noun, we use the masculine adjective clair. If we were describing a feminine word, like la voix (the voice), we would add an 'e' to the end to make it agree: La voix n'est pas claire.

Do I pronounce the 't' in n'est or the 's' in pas?

No, both the 't' in est and the 's' in pas are silent here. Because of the n', you blend the 'n' sound directly into the vowel sound of est, so n'est sounds a bit like the English word 'nay'.