Learn Hardcore French: Je ne veux pas déranger mes voisins quand je chante le soir. - I do not want to disturb my neighbors when I sing in the evening.

In French, the standard way to form a simple negation is a two-part construction around the conjugated verb: ne … pas. Ne goes before the verb (veux) and pas after. In formal written and spoken French you must keep both. In casual, everyday speech many speakers drop the ne and say “je veux pas…,” but that’s colloquial.

Why is déranger in the infinitive instead of another tense?

Because vouloir (to want) is followed directly by an infinitive when you want to express “to want to do something.” The pattern is vouloir + infinitive. Here, veux (1st person present of vouloir) is followed by déranger (the infinitive).

Why do we say mes voisins instead of les voisins or using a pronoun?

Mes is a possessive adjective (“my”), which specifies whose neighbors they are. Les voisins would just mean “the neighbors” (in general). If you’ve already mentioned them, you could replace mes voisins with the direct-object pronoun les:
“Je ne veux pas les déranger.”

Why is there a le before soir? English often drops “the.”

In French, parts of the day used habitually take the definite article: le matin, l’après-midi, le soir. English says “in the evening,” but French always uses le for these general time expressions.

Why is quand used here, and why is the verb in the present tense?

Quand simply means “when.” When paired with the present tense, it describes habitual or repeated actions: “whenever I sing in the evening.” In French, the present tense often covers what English expresses with “will” or the simple present habitually.

Could I say Je ne veux pas déranger mes voisins en chantant le soir instead?

Yes. Using the gerund en chantant (“while singing”) is perfectly correct. Your original quand je chante le soir emphasizes the time (“when I sing”), while en chantant stresses the simultaneous action (“by singing”).

Why do we repeat je before chante in the subordinate clause?

In French each clause needs its own explicit subject pronoun. Quand je chante is a full subordinate clause, so you cannot omit je. English sometimes drops “I” after “when,” but French does not.

Why does déranger have an acute accent on the first e (dé)?

The accent aigu (é) signals a closed /e/ sound, as in dé-range. Many French verbs (especially those from Latin) use this accent to preserve pronunciation and distinguish them from other forms.

Are there other verbs similar to déranger that mean “to disturb”?

Yes. Gêner also means “to bother” or “to inconvenience,” with a nuance of causing mild discomfort. Déranger can be stronger, more like “to interrupt” or “to trouble.” In your sentence, déranger perfectly conveys “I don’t want to trouble my neighbors.”

In spoken French, can you drop the ne in je ne veux pas?

Absolutely. In everyday conversation you will often hear Je veux pas or J’vais pas. Dropping ne is very common orally, but in writing and formal speech you should keep the full ne … pas.