Français — negation with rien, personne, aucun

The negative words rien (nothing), personne (nobody) and aucun (no / none) work together with ne. Their place in the sentence changes depending on whether they are the object or the subject of the verb.

How it works

✓ Rule

As the object, the negative word follows the verb and pairs with ne: Je ne vois rien, Je ne connais personne, Je n'ai aucune idée. As the subject, it comes first, before ne: Rien ne bouge, Personne ne vient, Aucun train ne circule.

Forms and examples

As object and as subject
Example	Role and meaning
Je ne vois rien.	rien as object — “I see nothing.”
Je ne connais personne.	personne as object — “I know nobody.”
Je n'ai aucune idée.	aucun(e) as object, agrees with the noun — “I have no idea.”
Rien ne bouge.	rien as subject, before ne — “Nothing moves.”
Personne ne vient.	personne as subject, before ne — “Nobody comes.”
Aucun train ne circule.	aucun + noun as subject, before ne — “No train is running.”

Good to know

⚠ Note

In the passé composé, rien goes before the past participle but personne goes after it: Je n'ai rien vu but Je n'ai vu personne. Also, with these words you never add pas — Je ne vois pas rien is wrong.