Questions & Answers about Je ne suis pas malade.
In standard French, the basic negation is built with two parts around the conjugated verb:
- ne
- verb + pas
So:
- Je suis malade. = I am sick.
- Je ne suis pas malade. = I am not sick.
Originally ne was the main negative, and pas was added for emphasis; over time pas became essential. In correct written French today, you normally need both parts: ne before the verb and pas after it.
In everyday spoken French, people very often drop ne and say:
- Je suis pas malade.
This is very common and sounds natural in informal conversation.
However:
- In writing (school, exams, anything formal), you should keep ne: Je ne suis pas malade.
- In very careful or formal speech, you will also hear the full ne ... pas.
So:
- Informal spoken French: Je suis pas malade.
- Standard written/neutral French: Je ne suis pas malade.
In French, pas normally comes right after the conjugated verb in simple tenses.
Structure:
- subject (je)
- ne
- conjugated verb (suis)
- pas
- rest of the sentence (malade)
So the normal word order is:
- Je ne suis pas malade.
Putting pas at the end (Je ne suis malade pas) is ungrammatical in modern French.
In Je ne suis pas malade, malade is an adjective meaning ill / sick, not a noun. Adjectives in French do not take articles.
Compare:
- Je suis malade. = I am sick. (adjective, no article)
- Le malade attend. = The (sick) patient is waiting. (here malade is a noun, so it takes le)
In your sentence, you’re describing a state (“I am ill / not ill”), so malade works as an adjective and doesn’t need un or le.
Yes and no:
- Masculine singular: malade
- Feminine singular: malade (same spelling, same pronunciation)
- Masculine plural: malades
- Feminine plural: malades (same spelling again)
So:
- Je ne suis pas malade. (man speaking)
- Je ne suis pas malade. (woman speaking — same spoken form)
- Nous ne sommes pas malades. (we are not sick)
Only in the plural do you add an -s in writing. In normal speech you don’t really hear the final -s, unless there is a liaison before a vowel (e.g. malades‿et fatigués).
Malade mainly means ill / sick, usually physically:
- Je suis malade. = I am sick / I am ill.
However, it can also be used:
For mental illness, in the right context:
- Il est malade. could mean “He is mentally ill,” depending on context.
Informally, a bit like “crazy” or “twisted” (often negative):
- Il est malade, lui ! = He’s crazy! / There’s something wrong with him!
As a noun: un malade / une malade = a (sick) patient.
In Je ne suis pas malade, the default meaning is simply I am not ill / I am not sick (physically).
They’re related but used differently.
1. malade = ill / sick (a general state)
- Je suis malade. = I am sick.
- Je ne suis pas malade. = I am not sick.
2. mal can mean:
- pain (as a noun): J’ai mal à la tête. = My head hurts / I have a headache.
- bad(ly) (as an adverb/adjective):
- Je vais mal. = I’m doing badly / I’m not well.
- Ce n’est pas mal. = It’s not bad.
Compare:
- Je ne suis pas malade. = I am not ill (I don’t have an illness).
- Je ne vais pas bien. / Je me sens mal. = I’m not well / I feel bad.
So malade is “ill”, and mal is used in fixed expressions for pain or feeling bad.
You can, but it doesn’t mean the same thing.
- Je ne suis pas malade. = I am not sick. (I don’t have an illness.)
- Je ne suis pas mal. = I’m not bad. (I’m OK / I’m doing alright.)
Je ne suis pas mal is more about your general condition or mood (or sometimes even appearance), not specifically about illness.
In French, you almost always must use the subject pronoun (je, tu, il, etc.). French is not a “drop the subject” language like Spanish or Italian.
So:
- Correct: Je (ne) suis pas malade.
- Very colloquial and incomplete: Suis pas malade.
You might hear Suis pas malade in very casual speech (like a quick reaction), but it sounds clipped and is not standard. For learners, always include je.
Suis is the 1st person singular form of the verb être (to be) in the present tense.
Present tense of être:
- je suis = I am
- tu es = you are (singular, informal)
- il / elle / on est = he / she / one is
- nous sommes = we are
- vous êtes = you are (plural or formal)
- ils / elles sont = they are
So Je suis directly corresponds to I am.
In the negative: Je ne suis pas = I am not.
Je ne suis pas malade is in the present tense (présent de l’indicatif):
- Je ne suis pas malade. = I am not sick (now).
To say I was not sick, you normally use the imparfait of être:
- Je n’étais pas malade. = I was not sick / I used not to be sick.
Note the changes:
- suis → étais
- ne
- étais → n’étais (the e drops before a vowel)
In standard careful speech:
- Je → like “zhuh” [ʒə]
- ne → “nuh” [nə] (often very short)
- suis → roughly “swee” [sɥi]
- pas → “pah” [pa]
- malade → “ma-LAD” [maˈlad]
Together (careful version):
- [ʒə nə sɥi pa maˈlad]
In very natural fast speech, especially if ne is dropped:
- Je suis pas malade. → [ʒsɥi pa maˈlad] or [ʒə sɥi pa maˈlad]
In normal speech, there are no obligatory liaisons in this particular sentence:
- Je [ʒə] ne [nə] suis [sɥi] pas [pa] malade [maˈlad]
You don’t link final consonants to the next words here. You just say each word separately, flowing naturally.
A very careful speaker might make a liaison in other contexts (e.g. les malades‿attendent), but in Je ne suis pas malade there is no standard liaison to worry about.
Yes, depending on what you want to stress:
- Je ne suis pas malade. = I am not sick. (I don’t have an illness.)
- Je ne suis plus malade. = I am no longer sick / I’m not sick anymore.
- Je ne me sens pas malade. = I don’t feel sick.
- Je ne me sens pas bien. = I don’t feel well.
- Je ne vais pas bien. = I’m not doing well / I’m not feeling well.
- Je ne suis pas en forme. = I’m not in good shape / I’m not feeling great.
All are useful, but Je ne suis pas malade is the straightforward literal opposite of Je suis malade.