“Ne … pas”, basic placement
ne+verb+pas
ne+verb+jamais
ne+verb+plus
ne+verb+rien
Negative phrase with passé composé
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ne+être/avoir +pas+ past participle |
il n’a pas pris |
he did not take |
Exceptions are with personne and nulle part:
ne+être/avoir+past participle+personne
ne+être/avoir+past participle+nulle part |
je n’ai entendu personne |
I heard nobody |
ils ne vont nulle part |
they aren’t going anywhere (lit.: they go nowhere) |
When the negative phrase is a subject.
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When the negative phrase is a subject, the negative word +ne precede the verb. This is often the case with rien and personne. (eg: Rien ne m’intéresse; personne ne me comprend.)
Un,une,des becomes de
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The indefinite article (un,une,des) generally becomes de in a negative phrase. (eg: Il y a un stylo dans mon sac.=>Il n’y a pas de stylo dans mon sac.) Be aware: This is not the case with the verb être: C’est un stylo.=>Ce n’est pas un stylo.
Ne … plus/encore.
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Be aware: Ne…plus in French translates into ‘no longer’ in English and is the negation of encore.(eg: Je vis encore chez mes parents. => Je ne vis plus chez mes parents.)
Ne…pas encore/déjà.
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Be aware: Ne…pas encore in French translates into not yet in English and is the negation of déjà. (eg: Je suis déjà allé en Afrique. =>Je ne suis pas encore allé en Afrique.)
Quelques, tous/aucun, aucune.
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Aucun/aucune means ‘not one’ and is the negation of quelques or tous. It can be an adjective or a pronoun. Like personne and nulle part, in a compound tense, it is placed after the past participle. (eg: Je n’ ai compris aucune question.) Like personne and rien, it can be a subject in which case it is followed by ne and precedes the verb which is always in the singular. (eg: Aucune question n’est facile.)
Ne…ni…ni.
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Ne…ni…ni in French translates into ‘neither…nor’ in English. It is the negation of et…et…. When it is a subject it becomes ni…ni…ne….
Exercices
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