🚫📍

How to Say ‘We're not there’ in French

On n'y est pas

on n ee eh pah

[on n ee eh pah]

💬 Usage Tip: Y means "there" and sits before the verb, not after: J'y vais "I'm going there". With a negative, n' squeezes in front of it: n'y.

Phrase Breakdown

On n'y

on n ee

We ... there

'On' means 'we', and 'n'y' combines ne and y ('there'). Say 'on-ni' smoothly.

Example

On n'y va pas.

We're not going there.

Words in this phrase

[on]

Used by a speaker to refer to themself and one or more other people considered together.

Example

On y va maintenant.

We are going now.

[n]

not

Used to indicate negation or absence.

Example

Ce distributeur n'est pas encore disponible.

This ATM is not available yet.

[ee]

there

In or at that place.

Example

Y a-t-il une solution?

Is there a solution?

est pas

eh pah

are not

This completes the negation ne...pas. Say 'é pa'. The s is silent.

Example

On n'y est pas encore.

We're not there yet.

Words in this phrase

est

[eh]

Third person singular present of be.

Example

C'est important.

It is important.

pas

[pah]

not

Used with 'ne' to form a negative.

Example

Je ne comprends pas.

I do not understand.

Guides for French learners

Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.Hello in French: Greetings, Good Evening and How to Answer "How Are You?"How to say hello in French, when to switch to good evening, how to ask how are you and what to answer, with tu vs vous and native audio.

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