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1.33:_Formes_negatives
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<p>French has several other types of negation where other words than ‘pas’ make the negation. These can be referred to as <strong>negative adverbs</strong> and the most common examples are:</p> <ul> <li><strong>ne … jamais </strong><span style="color:#808080;"><em>never</em></span></li> </ul> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Je <strong>ne</strong> fume <strong>jamais</strong></span><strong>.</strong><em><span style="color:#808080;">I never smoke.</span></em></p> <ul> <li><strong>ne … rien </strong><span style="color:#808080;"><em>nothing, anything</em></span></li> </ul> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Je <strong>ne</strong> comprends <strong>rien</strong></span>.<em><span style="color:#808080;">I do not understand anything.</span></em></p> <ul> <li><strong>ne … personne </strong><em><span style="color:#808080;">nobody, anybody </span></em></li> </ul> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Je <strong>ne</strong> connais <strong>personne</strong></span>.<span style="color:#808080;"><em>I do not know anybody.</em></span></p> <span id="Using_personne_and_rien_as_the_subject_of_the_sentence"></span><h5>Using <strong>personne </strong>and <strong>rien </strong>as the subject of the sentence</h5> <p>Both <strong>personne</strong> <span style="color:#808080;">nobody</span> and rien <span style="color:#808080;">nothing</span> can both be the subjects of a sentences.</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><strong><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞</span> <span style="color:#0000ff;">Personne ne</span></strong> <span style="color:#0000ff;">vient ce soir.</span> <span style="color:#808080;"><em>Nobody is coming tonight.</em></span></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><strong><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞</span> <span style="color:#0000ff;">Rien ne</span></strong> <span style="color:#0000ff;">marche ici</span>. <span style="color:#808080;"><em>Nothing works here.</em></span></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><strong><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞</span> <span style="color:#0000ff;">Rien ne</span></strong> <span style="color:#0000ff;">m’interesse</span>. <span style="color:#808080;"><em>Nothing interests me.</em></span></p> <span id="Ne_.2B_verb_.2B_pas_encore_haven.E2.80.99t_yet.2C_still_haven.E2.80.99t"></span><h5><strong>Ne + </strong>verb <strong>+ pas encore <span style="color:#808080;">haven’t yet</span></strong><span style="color:#808080;">, <strong>still haven’t</strong></span></h5> <p>When you want to express something that <span style="color:#808080;">you haven’t done yet</span> use <strong>ne + verb + pas encore</strong>. This negation applies to the passé composé.</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Je <strong>n’</strong>ai <strong>pas encore</strong> parlé.</span> <em><span style="color:#808080;">I still haven’t spoken</span></em>’.</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Je <strong>n</strong>‘ai <strong>pas encore</strong> compris cette leçon. </span><span style="color:#808080;"><em>I still haven’t understood this lesson.</em></span></p> <span id="Ne_.2B_verb_.2B_nulle_part_nowhere_or_anywhere"></span><h5><strong>Ne + verb + nulle part <span style="color:#808080;">nowhere or anywhere</span></strong></h5> <p>The word <strong>nulle part</strong> means nowhere and/or anywhere.</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Elle <strong>ne </strong>va <strong>nulle part</strong>.</span> <span style="color:#808080;"><em>She’s not going anywhere.</em></span></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Le bus <strong>ne </strong>va <strong>nulle part</strong>.</span> <span style="color:#808080;"><em>The bus is going nowhere.</em></span></p> <p><strong>Ne + verb + que <em><span style="color:#808080;">only</span></em></strong></p> <p>The format, <strong>ne + verb + que</strong> means ‘only’.</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Il <strong>ne </strong>boit <strong>que </strong>de l’eau.</span> <span style="color:#808080;"><em>He only drinks water.</em></span></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Je <strong>ne </strong>travaille <strong>que </strong>le matin.</span> <span style="color:#808080;"><em>I only work in the morning.</em></span></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Je <strong>n’</strong>écoute <strong>que </strong>la musique classique.</span> <span style="color:#808080;"><em>I only listen to classical music.</em></span></p> <span id="Ne_.2B_qu.E2.80.99.C3.A0_faire_just_.2B_verb"></span><h5><strong>Ne + qu’à faire </strong><span style="color:#808080;">just + verb</span></h5> <p>Je construction ne + qu’à faire means ‘just + verb’, like the Nike commercial: ‘Tu n’as qu’a le faire!’ translates to ‘Just do it!’.</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Tu <strong>n</strong>‘as <strong>qu’à</strong> le manger</span>. <span style="color:#808080;"><em>Just eat it!</em></span></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Vous <strong>n’</strong>avez <strong>qu’à</strong> l’essayer!</span> <span style="color:#808080;"><em>Just try it!</em></span></p> <span id="Rien_.2B_qu.E2.80.99.C3.A0_.2B_infinitive_by_just_doing_something"></span><h5><strong>Rien + qu’à + infinitive </strong><span style="color:#808080;">by just doing something</span></h5> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong>☞ Rien </strong><strong>qu’</strong>à assister au spectacle, on peut voir plein de gens.</span> <em>By just attending the show you can see lots of people.</em></p> <span id="Ne_.2B_verb_.2B_aucun(e)_no_or_any"></span><h5><strong>Ne + verb + aucun(e) <span style="color:#808080;">no or any</span></strong></h5> <p>The word aucun/aucune translates to any. For these sentences, the word aucun must agree in gender with the noun it’s modifying. For example, ‘Je n’ai aucun ami en France’ translates to both ‘I don’t have any friend in France’ and ‘I have no friend in France.</p> <p>The word idée (idea) is feminine. Hence, ‘Je n’ai aucune idée’ translates to ‘I have no idea’.</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Je <strong>n’</strong>ai <strong>aucun</strong> problème.</span> <span style="color:#808080;"><em>I have no problem.</em></span></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Je <strong>n’</strong>ai <strong>aucune</strong> objection.</span> <span style="color:#808080;"><em>I have no object.</em></span></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Je <strong>n’</strong>ai <strong>aucun</strong> doute.</span> <span style="color:#808080;"><em>I have no doubt.</em></span></p> <p><strong>Aucun(e) + noun</strong> or <strong>aucun(e) de + plural noun</strong> can be the subject of a sentence to translate to no or none none of.</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong>☞ Aucun de</strong> mes amis habite en France</span>. <em>None of my friends live in France.</em></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong>☞ Aucune de </strong>mes amies me comprennent</span>. <em>None of my friends understand me.</em></p> <span id="Ne_.2B_gu.C3.A8re_much_or_hardly"></span><h5><strong>Ne + guère <span style="color:#808080;">much or hardly</span></strong></h5> <p>The word guère translates to both much and hardly. Hence, ‘Je comprends guère’ translates to ‘I hardly understand’.</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Elle <strong>ne </strong>sort <strong>guère</strong>.</span> <em>She hardly ever goes out.</em></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Il <strong>ne </strong>mange <strong>guère</strong></span>. <em>He doesn’t eat much.</em></p> <span id="Ni.E2.80.A6ni_neither.E2.80.A6nor"></span><h5><strong>Ni…ni <em><span style="color:#808080;">neither…nor</span></em></strong></h5> <p>Ni…ni translates to to neither…nor, while ni l’une ni l’autre translates to neither of them.</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Je <strong>n’</strong>aime <strong>ni </strong>les escargots <strong>ni </strong>les épinards.</span> <span style="color:#808080;"><em>I like neither snails nor spinach.</em></span></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Je <strong>ne</strong> veux <strong>ni</strong> fromage <strong>ni</strong> yaourt</span>.<span style="color:#808080;"><em> I don’t want cheese or yogurt.</em></span></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Elles <strong>ne</strong> sont arrivées <strong>ni l’une ni l’autre.</strong></span> <span style="color:#808080;"><em>Neither of them arrived.</em></span></p> <span id="Ne_.2B_past_conditional_.2B_past_participle_of_devoir_.2B_infinitive_shouldn.E2.80.99t_have"></span><h5><strong>Ne + past conditional + past participle of devoir + infinitive <em><span style="color:#808080;">shouldn’t have</span></em></strong></h5> <p>To express regret for something you shouldn’t have done use the <a href="https://www.frenchlearner.com/verbs/conditional-tense/#Past_conditional" target="_blank" rel="external noopener nofollow" class="link-https">past. conditional</a> of devoir plus the infinitive.</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Je <strong>n</strong>‘aurais <strong>pas</strong> dû acheter ce livre.</span> <span style="color:#808080;"><em>I shouldn’t have bought this book.</em></span></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px"><span style="color:#0000ff;">☞ Je <strong>n</strong>‘aurais pas <strong>dû </strong>manger ce poisson.</span> <span style="color:#808080;"><em>I shouldn’t have eaten this fish.</em></span></p> <p>Practice</p> <p><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="411" src="https://pressbooks.pub/introductiontofrench1/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=h5p_embed&id=112" title="Formes négatives. ex." width="686"></iframe><script src="https://pressbooks.pub/app/plugins/h5p/h5p-php-library/js/h5p-resizer.js" charset="UTF-8"></script></p>
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