NEGATION
MOST COMMON
NEGATIVES ARE
Ne ….pas – not
Ne …jamais – never
Ne …personne – nobody
Ne …plus – anymore
Ne …rien – nothing
HOW TO DO IT
The negative form of a verb is usually
achieved by placing « ne » immediatey
before the verb and the second part of the
negative after the verb.
EXAMPLE
First part of the negation
Second part of the negation
Elle ne parle pas français
VERB
With me so far?!!
MORE EXAMPLES
I don’t receive pocket money
Je ne reçois pas d’argent de poche
I have nothing to do
Je n’ai rien à faire
My parents never understand
Mes parents ne comprennent jamais
Ready to have a go?
EXERCISE
(Do one sentence at a time)
I don’t have a part-time job anymore
Je n’ai plus de petit boulot
’
I don’t earn any money
Je ne gagne pas d’argent
I never go out during the week
Je ne sors jamais pendant la semaine
I never do anything in school
Je ne fais rien à l’école
THINGS TO WATCH
OUT FOR
You didn’t really think it would be
that easy?!!
COMPOUND VERBS
(verbs made up of 2
parts)
When the verb is made up of 2 parts, the
second element of the negation is usually
placed after the first part of the verb.
EXAMPLE
First part of the negation
Second part of the negation
Je n’ai rien fait
first part of the verb
Second part of the verb
MORE EXAMPLES
I didn’t go on holiday with my parents
Je ne suis pas allé en vacances avec mes parents.
I’ve never smoked
Je n’ai jamais fumé
I don’t want to work anymore
Je ne veux plus travailler
COMPOUND VERBS
(verbs made up of 2
parts)
There’s one exception to this rule!
ne … personne
In this case, « personne » goes after the
second part of the verb.
Eg: Ils n’ont vu personne
REFLEXIVE VERBS
With reflexive verbs, the first part of the
negation is placed before the reflexive
pronoun.
EXAMPLE
first part of the negation
Je ne m’entends pas bien avec ma soeur
Reflexive pronoun
MORE EXAMPLES
I don’t argue with my parents
Je ne me dispute pas avec mes parents
At the weekend, I never wake up early
Le week-end, je ne me réveille jamais de
bonne heure
JAMAIS/PESONNE/RIEN
« Jamais », « personne » and « rien » can
be used on their own.
Eg: - Qu’est-ce que tu prends au petit
déjeuner?
- Rien
PERSONNE / RIEN
« personne » and « rien » may also be
subjects and will need to be placed at the
begining of the sentence.
Watch out! « ne » is still required!
Eg: Personne ne le connaît
Rien ne me plaît
Got it?
Well done!
EXERCISE TO RECAP
(answers on the next slide)
Nobody knows where he is.
They didn’t hurry up.
I haven’t finished my homework.
She doesn’t want to lend me her car.
Our French teacher is never angry.
You don’t want to go anymore?
ANSWERS
Personne ne sait où il est.
Ils/elles ne se sont pas dépéché(e)s.
Je n’ai pas fini mes devoirs.
Elle ne veut pas me prêter sa voiture.
Notre professeur de français n’est
jamais en colère.
Tu ne veux plus partir?
MORE PRACTICE
If you want to practise a bit more, go to
the following exercise in Zut:
http://zut.languageskills.co.uk/361.html