Learn French: Je ne comprends rien à l'astrologie. - I understand nothing about astrology.

Je ne comprends rien à l'astrologie.

I understand nothing about astrology.

Breakdown of Je ne comprends rien à l'astrologie.

not (used before the verb)

comprendre

to understand

at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)

Questions & Answers about Je ne comprends rien à l'astrologie.

Why is it à l'astrologie instead of sur or de to mean "about"?

The verb comprendre (to understand) pairs with the preposition à when talking about understanding a subject, field, or situation. The set expression is comprendre quelque chose à quelque chose. Because of this, you must use à to say you understand something (or nothing) about it.

Where did the pas go in this negative sentence?

The word rien (nothing) replaces pas. In French, you pair ne with specific negative words like rien, jamais (never), or personne (nobody), and drop the pas. If you wrote Je ne comprends pas rien, it would be a double negative.

If I changed this to the past tense (passé composé), where would rien go?

Short negative words like rien or jamais go between the helping verb and the past participle. If you wanted to say "I understood nothing about astrology," you would say: Je n'ai rien compris à l'astrologie.