With personne, you normally do not add pas. The word personne itself already expresses the negative idea (“no one”), so you just use:
ne … pas is the basic negation for regular verbs (e.g. Je ne veux pas parler = I don’t want to talk), but when you use personne, rien, jamais, etc., that word replaces pas.
It depends on the type of sentence and the context:
In statements, personne usually means “nobody / no one”:
In questions or after certain verbs, it can correspond to “anyone”:
In short answers, it can function like “nobody / no one”:
So the core meaning is “no person,” but depending on the sentence type, English may prefer “nobody” or “anyone”.
No, not in normal modern French. With personne as the subject, the standard order is:
Personne + ne + [verb] (+ rest of the sentence)
So you say:
Not:
You can see personne after the verb when it’s not the subject, e.g.:
Here, the subject is je / il, and personne is the object. But when personne is the subject (“nobody wants…”), it comes at the start.
In French, the verb agrees with the grammatical subject, not with the “real-world” idea of how many people are involved.
Compare:
Even though “nobody” and “everybody” refer to groups of people conceptually, in French the subject is treated as a singular noun.
The verb parler needs a preposition in French when you mention the topic:
So you must say:
parler ce problème is incorrect; parler doesn’t take a direct object for “topic”.
parler sur is only used in special cases (e.g. un livre qui parle sur… is very colloquial and often judged incorrect; standard is parler de). For normal “talk about X,” you should stick to parler de X.
Yes, you can say it, but there’s a nuance:
parler de ce problème
– most common, neutral, natural in everyday speech
– simply “talk about this problem”
parler au sujet de ce problème
– a bit more formal or explicit, often in writing or careful speech
– literally “speak on the subject of this problem”
In most contexts, parler de ce problème is the default and sounds more natural.
Both are possible, but they don’t feel exactly the same:
ce problème = this problem (demonstrative)
→ You’re pointing to a specific problem, often one that’s been mentioned or is very present in the situation:
le problème = the problem (definite article)
→ Refers to a known / identified problem, but without the “this/that” pointing feeling:
In practice, ce problème often feels a bit more immediate or pointed: the speaker is drawing attention to that specific issue, sometimes with emotional weight.
In informal spoken French, many people do drop ne, even though it’s still required in standard grammar.
So you’ll hear:
For writing, for exams, or in formal contexts, you should keep ne.
For listening, be aware that you’ll often hear it omitted in everyday conversation.
You have some flexibility. Common options include:
Both are natural. Placing ici at the beginning adds a bit of emphasis on “here”.
Putting ici at the very end:
is also possible, but can sometimes sound like you mean “in this place” as opposed to “elsewhere”, so context matters.
You keep the Personne ne … frame and change the verb:
Past (passé composé)
Imperfect (imparfait) (background, repeated action)
Future
Note the n’ before a vowel sound: n’a voulu, ne voulait, ne voudra.
There are a couple of natural ways:
Keep personne and use rising intonation or a question structure:
Use quelqu’un (someone/anyone), which is often more neutral:
Option 1 sounds more like a frustrated or rhetorical question, similar to English “Doesn’t anyone…?”. Option 2 is a straightforward question: “Does anyone want to…?”.
Yes. When you have de + [a thing], you usually replace it with the pronoun en:
Here:
More examples:
So if the context is clear, you can shorten the original sentence to: