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Pronoms négatifs
There are two different types of negative pronouns.
- Invariable negative pronouns
- Variable negative pronouns, explained here
Par exemple…
| Nul n’est prophète en son pays. | No man is a prophet in his own country. | |
| Aucune des filles n’est arrivée à l’heure. | None of the girls arrived on time. |
Characteristics of variable negative pronouns
- Used in place of negative adjective + noun
- Have two parts: the word ne, which precedes the verb, and one or more words which follow the verb
- Require either de + noun or the adverbial pronoun en
- Are always singular
- Must agree in gender with the negated noun
French variable negative pronouns
| ne… aucun(e) (de) | none (of), not any (of) | |
| ne… nul(le) (de) | no one, none of | |
| ne… pas un(e) (de) | not one (of) | |
| ne… pas un(e) seul(e) (de) | not a single one (of) |
Is there a strange sense of déjà vu? That’s because variable negative pronouns take the same forms as negative adjectives. The difference is that when they are adjectives, there’s no de: the adjective goes directly in front of the noun to negate it. Compare:
| Pronoun | Adjective | |
| Aucune des filles n’est venue. | Aucune fille n’est venue. | |
| None of the girls came. | No girl came. |
Using variable negative pronouns
When the pronoun is a direct object, it requires either the preposition de plus a noun, or an antecedent replaced by the adverbial pronoun en.
Par exemple…
| Je n’ai lu aucun de ces livres. Je n’en ai lu aucun. |
I haven’t read any of these books. I haven’t read any of them. |
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| Il n’a pas écrit une seule lettre. Il n’en a pas écrit une seule. |
He didn’t write a single letter. He didn’t write a single one. |
Related lessons
- Invariable negative pronouns
- Negative adjectives
- Negative adverbs
- Negation lessons – PwLF super list
- Subjunctive with indefinite pronouns
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