Conjonctions négatives
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French has two closely related negative conjunctions:
- ni (nor)
- ne … ni … ni (neither … nor)
Ni is generally used on its own when a negative statement has already been made using some other negative construction, to add another negative.
Par exemple…
| Je n’aime pas les chats, ni les chiens. | I don’t like cats or dogs. | |
| Elle n’a parlé à personne, ni moi non plus. | She didn’t talk to anyone (and) neither did I. | |
| Je ne sais pas lire ni écrire. | I don’t know how to read or write. |
In order to emphasize the negation, you can use the emphatic coordinating conjunction ne … ni … ni. Just like with other negative structures, ne precedes the verb and each ni precedes one of the negated qualities, people, etc.
Par exemple…
| Je n’aime ni les chats, ni les chiens. | I like neither cats nor dogs. | |
| Tu n’es ni sympa ni charmant. | You are neither nice nor charming. |
When negating two separate verbs, ne is required in front of each one, so the conjunction becomes ne … ni ne.
Par exemple…
| Je ne mange pas de viande ni ne porte de cuir. | I neither eat meat nor wear leather. | |
| Elle ne veut ni ne peut y aller. | She doesn’t want to go, nor can she. |
Negating subjects
When negating two subjects that share a verb, there are two things to keep in mind: the word order changes to ni … ni … ne, and the subjects are considered a combined grammatical person, so the the verb is always conjugated for that plural pronoun.
Par exemple…
| Ni toi ni moi [nous] ne pouvons y aller. | Neither you nor I can go. | |
| Ni Pierre ni Marie [ils] ne sont venus. | Neither Pierre nor Marie came. |
Related lessons
En español
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