Exercises

Negatives 2

It's usually easy to know when a sentence or a phrase is in the negative.

Le totémisme n'est plus aussi répandu.

Le totémisme est aussi répandu qu'autrefois.

The presence of a ne usually indicates a negative, as in the first sentence ("Totemism is no longer as widespread"). Its absence, as in the second sentence, indicates the affirmative ("Totemism is as widespread as before.").

simple Negatives.

However, there are some tricky uses of ne, and a few other negative problems you should be aware of. Here we'll deal with the ne explétif, the use of que, and some problems with plus and jamais.

The ne explétif

The little particle ne is sometimes used in French without any negative meaning, in fact, without any meaning at all. This use of ne is called the ne explétif. You'll find it in just a few cases. It's used in comparisons:

Elle est plus rapide qu'il ne pensait.

On se voit d'un autre oeil qu'on ne voit son prochain.

The meanings are simply "She's faster than he thought" and "We see ourselves differently than we see others". The ne is grammatically necessary, but not negative.

It's also found after certain verbs and conjunctions, usually requiring the subjunctive:

J'ai peur qu'il ne me voie.

Il se peut qu'on pleure, à moins qu'on ne rie.

Again, the ne here has no negative force, but is grammatically necessary, at least in written French. (It is usually omitted in spoken French.) Meanings here are "I'm afraid he'll see me." and "We may cry, unless (of course) we laugh."

• This use of ne is well documented, with more examples, in your Collins-Robert dictionary. Look up ne, and find the section within the entry devoted to explétif sans valeur négative. Would you expect to find this at the beginning of the entry or at the end? Write down all the examples in French in your Notebook and see if you can understand them the next time you open it.

Ne ... que

The use of ne ... que to mean only is extremely common in written French. It is much more frequent than seulement, for example. Beware particularly of combinations with other negatives, which can be very tricky.

Les élèves n'avaient qu'un ordinateur par classe.

Il n'y a plus qu'à attendre.

On n'est jamais bien que quand on est à sa place.

In the second two sentences, que is combined with ne ... plus and ne ... jamais. "The only thing left to do is wait" (literally "there is only to wait any more") and "We only feel good when we are in our place." (literally "We are never good only when we are in our place").

These combinations of negatives and que are very common, and sometimes hard to figure out because English constructions are very different. If you come across one that you're not sure about, try looking up the negative or the que in your dictionary. Look for the same combination as in the text you are reading and see what the possibilities are.

Plus

Plus means more without a ne but the opposite with a ne, so be careful. 

Plus = more

Il est plus satisfait.

He's happier.

Elle a plus d'amis.

She has more friends.

Plus = no more

Il n'est plus satisfait.

He's not happy any more.

Elle n'a plus d'amis.

She has no more friends. 
 

In written French, the ne is always used for the negative no more. In spoken French, the ne is often omitted. But the pronunciation is different. The final s of plus is usually pronounced when it means more (Il y en a plus) and omitted when it means no more.

Jamais

Jamais means never with a ne, and ever without a ne. This is not usually a problem when reading.

Elle n'a jamais autant travaillé.

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Exercises