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J'ai peur que le nouveau commerce ne vende rien.

J'ai peur que le nouveau commerce ne vende rien.
I am afraid that the new shop will sell nothing.
From Lesson 188:Subjunctive for emotions (être content que, avoir peur que)·French

Questions & Answers about J'ai peur que le nouveau commerce ne vende rien.

Why is vende in the subjunctive form here?
The phrase avoir peur que (to be afraid that) expresses an emotion. In French, expressing an emotion or feeling about another action requires the following verb to be in the subjunctive mood. Here, vende is the present subjunctive of vendre (to sell).
The English translation says "will sell", which is future tense. Why doesn't the French sentence use the future tense?
French does not have a future tense for the subjunctive mood. Whenever a phrase like avoir peur que forces you to use the subjunctive, the present subjunctive is used to talk about both present and future actions.
Where is pas in this negative sentence?
It is replaced by rien. The negative structure ne ... rien means "nothing" or "not anything". Just like ne ... pas, it wraps around the conjugated verb (ne vende rien). You cannot use pas and rien together.
What is the difference between un commerce and un magasin?
Un magasin simply means a store or shop. Un commerce refers broadly to a business or trade, but it is very commonly used in everyday French to refer to a physical shop or local storefront. They are completely interchangeable in this context.

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