Futur proche: negation and reflexives (pronoun before infinitive)

The Futur Proche — Negation and Reflexive Verbs

Here’s the second half of the Futur Proche lesson, covering negation and reflexive verbs:

🚫 Negation in Futur Proche — The Common Trap

Rule: Negation only surrounds the verb Aller, not the infinitive.

Structure:

Je ne vais pas + [infinitive]

Examples:

• Je ne vais pas dormir → I am not going to sleep
• Nous n’allons pas partir → We are not going to leave

🪞 Reflexive Verbs — The “Traveling Pronoun”

Objective: Know where to place me / te / se / nous / vous / se in futur proche.

Rule: Reflexive pronouns always go before the infinitive, never before “aller”.

Examples:

• Je vais me coucher → I am going to go to bed
• Nous allons nous promener → We are going to take a walk

Reminder: The reflexive pronoun changes with the subject:

🚫🪞 Negation with Reflexive Verbs

When you combine negation and reflexive verbs in the futur proche, the rules from both topics apply together:

• Negation surrounds only the verb Aller.
• The reflexive pronoun stays before the infinitive, not before Aller.

Structure:

Subject + ne + Aller + pas + reflexive pronoun + infinitive

Examples:

• Je ne vais pas me coucher → I am not going to go to bed
• Nous n’allons pas nous promener → We are not going to take a walk

Think of it as two layers: the negation wraps around the “locomotive” Aller, while the pronoun travels with the infinitive.

This keeps your sentences grammatically correct and natural in French.