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Advanced negation

After this lesson you can say and understand nothing, nobody, never, no longer, not a single, only and neither...nor, even when French speakers drop the ne, and you can write or handle a clear complaint.

52 core words · 14 bonus cognates · 15 phrases

Pronunciation

The vanishing ne: how to still hear the negation

Spoken French drops ne

In writing, negation has two parts: ne ... pas. In everyday speech, the ne almost always disappears. The second word carries the whole negation, so that is what you must listen for.

Written Spoken IPA
Je ne sais pas. J'sais pas. /ʃɛ.pa/
Il n'y a personne. Y a personne. /ja.pɛʁ.sɔn/
Ce n'est pas grave. C'est pas grave. /sɛ.pa.ɡʁav/
Je ne vois rien. J'vois rien. /ʒvwa.ʁjɛ̃/
Je n'en peux plus. J'en peux plus. /ʒɑ̃.pø.ply/
Il ne vient jamais. Il vient jamais. /i.vjɛ̃.ʒa.mɛ/

Note how je also shrinks: j'sais becomes /ʃɛ/, the j turns into a German sch before a voiceless consonant.

Listen for the second word

Train your ear to catch these words at the end of the verb group: pas /pa/, plus /ply/, rien /ʁjɛ̃/, jamais /ʒa.mɛ/, personne /pɛʁ.sɔn/, aucun /o.kœ̃/, que /kə/, ni /ni/.

The plus trap: /ply/ vs /plys/

Plus is pronounced differently depending on its meaning, and without ne this is the only clue:

  • J'en veux plus. /ʒɑ̃.vø.ply/ = I don't want any more. (negation: no s)
  • J'en veux plus. /ʒɑ̃.vø.plys/ = I want more. (comparison: s pronounced)

Like German mehr vs nicht mehr, but in French one letter decides.

Ne ... que without ne

J'ai que dix euros /ʒe.kə.di.z‿ø.ʁo/ means I only have ten euros, not I have that ten euros. When you hear que right after the verb and no clause follows, think only (German nur).

The invisible n'

After on, the n' of the negation is inaudible because of the liaison: on a /ɔ̃.n‿a/ and on n'a /ɔ̃.n‿a/ sound identical. Only the second part (on n'a rien) tells you it is negative. That is why many French people misspell this in writing.

Grammar

Advanced negation: plus, jamais, rien, personne, aucun, que, ni ... ni

The full set

All these work like ne ... pas: ne before the verb, the second word after it.

French English German
ne ... plus no longer, not anymore nicht mehr
ne ... jamais never nie
ne ... rien nothing nichts
ne ... personne nobody niemand
ne ... aucun(e) not a single, no kein (einziger)
ne ... que only nur
ne ... ni ... ni neither ... nor weder ... noch
  • Je ne fume plus. I don't smoke anymore.
  • Il ne répond jamais au téléphone. He never answers the phone.
  • Nous n'avons rien reçu. We haven't received anything.
  • Je ne connais personne ici. I don't know anybody here.
  • Il n'y a aucun problème. There's no problem at all.
  • Elle ne parle que français. She only speaks French.
  • Je n'ai ni le temps ni l'argent. I have neither the time nor the money.

ne ... que is not a real negation: it means only. Je n'ai que dix euros = Ich habe nur zehn Euro. After it, keep the normal article: *Il ne boit **que de l'*eau.

Position in compound tenses

This is the key point. pas, plus, jamais, rien go between the auxiliary and the participle. personne, aucun, que, ni ... ni go after the participle.

Group Example
around the auxiliary Je n'ai rien vu. I saw nothing.
Il n'est jamais venu. He never came.
On n'a plus parlé. We didn't talk anymore.
after the participle Je n'ai vu personne. I saw nobody.
Nous n'avons reçu aucune réponse. We received no answer.
Il n'a payé que vingt euros. He only paid twenty euros.

Personne and rien as subjects

As subjects, they come first, followed by ne (no pas!):

  • Personne n'est venu. Nobody came.
  • Rien ne marche. Nothing works.
  • Aucun client ne s'est plaint. Not a single customer complained.
  • Ni Paul ni Marie ne sont d'accord. Neither Paul nor Marie agrees.

Never add pas: Personne n'est pas venu is wrong. One negative word is enough.

Aucun agrees

Aucun / aucune agrees with the noun and is almost always singular: aucun problème, aucune idée, aucune réponse. Je n'en ai aucune idée. I have no idea.

Ni ... ni drops the article

With ni ... ni, indefinite and partitive articles disappear:

  • Il ne boit ni café ni thé. He drinks neither coffee nor tea.
  • But definite articles stay: Je n'aime ni le froid ni la pluie.

Combining negations

French happily stacks negative words, unlike standard English:

  • Je ne vois plus personne. I don't see anyone anymore.
  • Il ne dit jamais rien. He never says anything.
  • On ne m'a plus jamais rien demandé. They never asked me anything again.

Short answers

  • Qui est là ? Personne. Who's there? Nobody.
  • Tu as vu quoi ? Rien. What did you see? Nothing.
  • Jamais de la vie ! Never in my life!
  • Moi non plus. Me neither.

With an infinitive

Both parts go before the infinitive (for pas, plus, jamais, rien):

  • Merci de ne rien toucher. Please don't touch anything.
  • J'ai décidé de ne plus travailler le dimanche. I decided not to work on Sundays anymore.
Cognate pattern

-eur (feminine) = -or / -our: the gender trap

The rule

Abstract nouns in -eur that match English -or / -our (often from Latin -or) are mostly feminine in French, even though the same Latin words are masculine in other languages. Many describe a quality, feeling or measurement.

French English German
la couleur colour die Farbe
la valeur value der Wert
la chaleur heat, warmth die Wärme, Hitze
l'erreur (f) error, mistake der Fehler
l'horreur (f) horror der Horror, das Grauen
la terreur terror der Terror
la faveur favour die Gunst
la saveur flavour der Geschmack
l'odeur (f) odour, smell der Geruch
la rigueur rigour die Strenge
la vigueur vigour die Kraft
la splendeur splendour die Pracht
la douleur pain der Schmerz
la peur fear die Angst
la longueur length die Länge
la hauteur height die Höhe
la largeur width die Breite
  • Quelle erreur ! What a mistake!
  • Une valeur sûre. A safe bet.
  • Par cette chaleur... In this heat...

Traps

  • Some are masculine after all: l'honneur (honour), le bonheur (happiness), le malheur (misfortune), le labeur (toil). So: un grand honneur, quel bonheur !
  • Nouns for people and machines in -eur are masculine: le directeur, le moteur, l'ordinateur, le vendeur. Their feminine is -trice or -euse: la directrice, la vendeuse.
  • la faveur is used in fixed phrases: en faveur de (in favour of), à la faveur de (thanks to, under cover of).
  • With a vowel, l' hides the gender: check the adjective. Une erreur grave, une odeur forte, un honneur immense.