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Questions & Answers about N'y va pas ce soir.
Why is it va instead of vas?
You are right that the standard tu form of the verb is tu vas. However, for aller and all regular -er verbs, you drop the final "s" in the imperative (command) form. So, "go!" is just va !. The "s" only comes back if the verb is immediately followed by y or en for pronunciation reasons (like in the affirmative command vas-y).
Why is the y placed before the verb? I have usually heard vas-y.
In affirmative commands (telling someone to do something), the pronoun attaches to the end of the verb with a hyphen: vas-y (go there). But in negative commands (telling someone not to do something), the pronoun goes back to its normal position right before the verb. Because this is a negative command, it becomes N'y va pas.
How does the ne ... pas structure work with the pronoun here?
What exactly does replace in this context?