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Adjectifs négatifs
French negative adjectives are used to negate or refuse nouns. Like other negative structures, negative adjectives – also called indefinite negative adjectives – have two parts.
Par exemple…
| Nous n’y voyons nul mal. | We don’t see any harm in it. | |
| Je n’ ai aucune idée. | I don’t have any idea(s). |
Characteristics of negative adjectives
- Used in place of an article, not with one
- Have two parts: the word ne, which precedes the verb, and one or more words which precede(s) the noun.
- Must agree with the negated noun in gender
French negative adjectives
| ne … aucun(e) | no, not any | |
| ne … nul(le) | no, not any | |
| ne … pas un(e) | no, not one | |
| ne … pas un(e) seul(e) | not a single |
Though all negative adjectives mean essentially the same thing, there is a grammatical difference between them:
+ Ne … aucun can be used with any kind of noun.
+ Ne … nul can be used only with collective and uncountable nouns, like water and happiness.
+ Ne … pas un (seul) can be used only with countable nouns, like teachers and flowers.
Par exemple…
| Je ne connais aucun avocat. Je ne connais pas un avocat. | I don’t know any lawyers. | |
| Nous n’y voyons aucun mal. Nous n’y voyons nul mal. | We don’t see any harm in it. |
Pay attention to word order when negative adjectives negate the subject of a sentence: the adjective must stay with the noun, and ne has to stay with the verb.
Par exemple…
| Aucun étudiant n’a réussi à l’examen. | No student passed the test. | |
| Nulle eau n’a été trouvée ici. | No water has been found here. |
When a sentence with an indefinite article is negated with a negative adverb, the article changes to de. This is not the case with un in the negative adjective ne … pas un (seul) – it remains unchanged and creates a stronger negation.
Par exemple…
| Negative adverb | Je ne vois pas de chat. | I don’t see any cats. | ||
| Negative adjective | Je ne vois pas un chat. | I see no cat, I don’t see a single cat. |
| Quiz: Negative adjectives |
Related lessons
- Introduction to nouns and gender
- Introduction to adjectives
- Negative adverbs
- Negative pronouns
- Negation lessons – PwLF super list
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