{"id":74,"date":"2009-03-28T13:52:15","date_gmt":"2009-03-28T17:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=74"},"modified":"2009-03-28T13:52:15","modified_gmt":"2009-03-28T17:52:15","slug":"french-language-negation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/french-language-negation\/","title":{"rendered":"French Language – Negation"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the French language, there are different ways to be negative…to express negativity.\u00a0 Perhaps the most common is when you want the sentence to be negative.\u00a0 In that case, you place ne<\/em><\/strong> before the main verb<\/span> and pas <\/em><\/strong>after<\/span> it.\u00a0 Or, if you want to say that you never do something, you place ne<\/em><\/strong> before the main verb<\/span> and jamais<\/em><\/strong> after<\/span> it.\u00a0 Here are some examples:<\/p>\n

Je ne<\/strong> sais pas<\/strong>. <\/em>\u00a0(I don’t know.)
\nElle ne<\/strong> mange pas<\/strong> de pain.<\/em> <\/em>(She doesn’t eat bread.)
\nVous ne<\/strong> voulez pas<\/strong> de vin\u00a0?<\/em>\u00a0 (You don’t want any wine?)
\nJe ne<\/strong> fais jamais<\/strong> de v\u00e9lo.<\/em>\u00a0 (I never ride a bike.)
\nIl ne<\/strong> boit jamais<\/strong> de lait.<\/em>\u00a0 (He never drinks milk.)
\nIls ne<\/strong> sortent jamais<\/strong> la nuit.<\/em>\u00a0 (They never go out at night.)<\/p>\n

To express negation towards a noun or noun group (as opposed to the verb in the above cases), you do the following:
\nTu veux de l’eau?\u00a0 Non, pas <\/strong>de l’eau, du vin. <\/em>\u00a0(No, not water, wine.)
\nTu viens en train?\u00a0 Non, pas<\/strong> en train, en voiture.<\/em> \u00a0(No, not by train, by car.)
\nTu veux manger quelque chose\u00a0?\u00a0 Non, je ne<\/strong> veux rien<\/strong>. <\/em>\u00a0(No, I don’t want anything.)
\nTu entends quelqu’un\u00a0?\u00a0 No, je n<\/strong>‘entends personne<\/strong>.<\/em>\u00a0 (No, I don’t hear anyone.)<\/p>\n

To express negation towards an adverb, you do as follows:
\nElle le voit toujours.\u00a0 Non, elle ne<\/strong> le voit plus<\/strong>.<\/em> <\/em>\u00a0(No, she doesn’t see him anymore.)
\nTu as d\u00e9j\u00e0 essay\u00e9 ce vin?\u00a0 Non, pas encore<\/strong>.<\/em> \u00a0(No, not yet.)<\/p>\n

Finally, you can use the negative form to express some kind of restriction:
\nJe ne<\/strong> travaille que <\/strong>le matin.<\/em> <\/em>\u00a0(I only work mornings.)<\/p>\n

OK.\u00a0 No more being negative.\u00a0 Il faut \u00eatre positif!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the French language, there are different ways to be negative…to express negativity.\u00a0 Perhaps the most common is when you want the sentence to be negative.\u00a0 In that case, you place ne before the main verb and pas after it.\u00a0 Or, if you want to say that you never do something, you place ne before…<\/p>\n

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