4.1.4

Enrichissement - Grammar

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Enrichissement - Grammar

Using the negative form in French.

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When to use it

  • You use the negative form in French to turn a positive phrase or question into a negative one.
    • For example in English, we have a good ethnic mix in my school becomes we do not have a good ethnic mix in my school.
    • In this case, the do not in English is the negative form.
  • In French, you need one ‘piece’ of the negative form around either side of the verb you are using.
  • We could say that the negative form is squashing the verb.
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Not, Never

  • To use the negative form ‘not’ in French
    • ne + (conjugated verb in the tense you want to talk in) + pas
      • Il ne parle pas aux autres = He does not speak to others
  • To use the negative form ‘never’ in French
    • ne + (conjugated verb in the tense you want to talk in) + jamais
      • Ils ne mangent jamais des différents types de cuisine = They never eat different types of cuisine
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No longer, Nothing

  • To use the negative form ‘no longer’ in French
    • ne + (conjugated verb in the tense you want to talk in) + plus
      • Nous ne demande plus aux candidats leur ethnicité = We no longer ask candidates their ethnicity
  • To use the negative form ‘nothing’ in French
    • ne + (conjugated verb in the tense you want to talk in) + rien
      • Vous ne connaissez rien aux personnes maghrébins = You don’t know anything about people of North African origin.
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Only

  • To use the negative form ‘only’’ in French
    • ne + (conjugated verb in the tense you want to talk in) + que
      • Elle ne travaillerait que pour une société multiculturelle = She would only work for a multicultural firm.
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Exception 1

  • When using the negative form with the perfect tense, you need to use it around the auxiliary verb ‘avoir’ or ‘être’; whichever one you need to have used to form the perfect tense.
    • J’ai habité avec un ami 🡪 Je n’ai pas habité avec un ami
  • You can see here that the negative form is around the verb ‘avoir’ in the perfect tense formation with je n’ai pas.
    • Elle est venu d’Espagne 🡪 Elle n’est pas venue d’Espagne
  • You can see here that the negative form is around the verb ‘etre’ in the perfect tense formation with elle n’est pas.
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Exception 2

  • If your verb starts with a vowel or a vowel sound like the silent ‘h’ in French, you will need to remove the e from ne.
    • Je ne habite jamais seul 🡪 je n’habite jamais seul.
  • This is also the case for there is not, where il y a becomes il n’y a pas.
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Exception 3

  • If your sentence needs to be made negative but it has 2 verbs in it, the negative form will need to go around the first verb.
    • Il ne va que manger au restaurant.
  • (This sentence has 2 verbs in it - va from the present tense of aller and also manger).
  • However, the negative form only needs to go around the first verb in the sentence.

Jump to other topics

1The Changing Nature of Family

2The 'cyber-society'

3The Place of Voluntary Work

4Diverse Society

5The Marginalised

6How Criminals Are Treated

7A Culture Proud of its Heritage

8Cinema: the 7th Art Form

9Demonstrations, strikes – who holds the power?

10Politics & Immigration

11Conjugation & Use of Tenses

11.1Present Tense

11.2Perfect Tense

11.3Imperfect Tense

11.4Future Tense

11.5Conditional Tense

11.6Future Perfect Tense

11.7Conditional Perfect Tense

11.8Pluperfect Tense

12Extra Grammar

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