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Marie n'est pas malade aujourd'hui.

Marie n'est pas malade aujourd'hui.
Marie is not sick today.
FromLesson 18inHardcore French

Breakdown of Marie n'est pas malade aujourd'hui.

être
to be
Marie
Marie
aujourd’hui
today
malade
sick
ne … pas
not

Questions & Answers about Marie n'est pas malade aujourd'hui.

Why is ne written as n’ in n’est?
Because French drops the e of ne before a vowel sound or silent h, replacing it with an apostrophe. So ne est becomes n’est to make pronunciation smoother.
Why do we need both ne (or n’) and pas to make a negation?
Modern French negation is a two-part construction: ne (or n’) before the verb and pas after. Omitting pas would either leave the sentence unnegated or sound archaic/poetic.
Why is there no article before malade in “Marie n’est pas malade”?
Here malade functions as an adjective describing Marie’s condition. After être, adjectives of state do not require an article. If you added un or une, you’d turn malade into a noun (“a sick person”).
Can we move aujourd’hui to the front of the sentence?
Yes. You can say Aujourd’hui, Marie n’est pas malade. French allows time adverbs at the beginning or end. Placing it first highlights the time aspect.
How do I pronounce aujourd’hui correctly?
It’s pronounced [oʒuʁdɥi]. The h is silent, j sounds like the s in vision, and ui is [ɥi], a rounded vowel moving into [i].
Could I say Elle n’est pas malade aujourd’hui instead?
Yes. Replacing Marie with elle (“she”) works if the person is clear from context: Elle n’est pas malade aujourd’hui.
Why is there a hyphen in n’est, but not in pas?
The hyphen links the elided ne (n’) directly to the verb est. Pas remains a separate word following the verb, so no hyphen is used there.
What tense is n’est in?
It’s the third-person singular present tense of être (“to be”) in its negative form, composed of ne + est + pas.
How would I ask “Is Marie not sick today?” in French?

Use subject–verb inversion with hyphens:
Marie n’est-elle pas malade aujourd’hui ?

Is the sentence formal or informal?
It’s neutral. You can use Marie n’est pas malade aujourd’hui in both formal and informal contexts without any change.
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“How does grammatical gender work in French?”
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).

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