Sans in French: without a thing or without doing it

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated 25 September 2026 · About the library

Use sans sucre, sans attendre and sans le lire. A compact reference, picture cards and questions show nouns, infinitives and pronoun placement.

In short

Sans means without. Put a noun after it for a missing thing (sans sucre) and an infinitive for an action you skip (sans attendre). With the same person doing both actions, Elle part sans payer means she leaves without paying.

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A simple black coffee in a plain white cup sits on a small French café table by a window. — The plain coffee gives sans sucre a concrete setting. Illustration: Atelier

Sans · les constructions utiles

1 · A missing thing

A general thing or substance often has no article after sans.

Je prends un café sans sucre.I’ll have a coffee without sugar.

Nous vivons sans voiture.We live without a car.

2 · A specific thing

Keep a possessive or demonstrative when it identifies the missing item.

Elle est sortie sans son manteau.She went out without her coat.

Je ne peux pas travailler sans cet ordinateur.I can’t work without this computer.

3 · An action skipped

Use sans + infinitive. English -ing becomes a French infinitive here.

Il entre sans frapper.He comes in without knocking.

Elle répond sans hésiter.She answers without hesitating.

4 · An object pronoun

Put the pronoun between sans and its infinitive.

Il signe le document sans le lire.He signs the document without reading it.

Elle part sans nous prévenir.She leaves without telling us beforehand.

5 · A second person

Use sans que + subject + subjunctive to name someone else’s action.

Elle est partie sans que je le sache.She left without my knowing it.

Four things you can leave out

Name the missing item

How do you use sans with a noun or an infinitive?

Elle part sans de payer.Elle part sans payer.
Sans takes the infinitive directly; leave out de.
Il signe sans pas lire.Il signe sans lire.
Sans already gives the without meaning. The basic pattern is sans lire.
Elle part sans prévenir nous.Elle part sans nous prévenir.
The object pronoun nous comes before its infinitive.

Compare sans bruit and sans faire de bruit: both describe a quiet action, but the first names a thing and the second gives a verb phrase. Il entre sans faire de bruit is a useful complete model. The main action still happens: he comes in.