Never and Ever
In English, there's no risk of confusion between "never" and "ever," which have opposing though not quite opposite meanings. In French, however, both terms can be translated by jamais.negation
French Negation
Négation
Lessons on all the different types of French negation: negative adverbs, adjectives, pronouns, and conjunctions, plus different ways to say no, nothing, no one, and never.
In English, there's no risk of confusion between "never" and "ever," which have opposing though not quite opposite meanings. In French, however, both terms can be translated by jamais.Informal Negation
The rule is that to make a French verb negative, you need ne in front of the verb and pas after it. The reality of how the French speak says otherwise.B1 - Intermediate French • informalities • negation
Subjunctive with Negative and Indefinite Pronouns
The subjunctive is required after any type of construction that indicates negativity or doubt, including negative pronouns and indefinite pronouns.B2 - Upper-Intermediate French • indefinition • negation • pronouns
Compound Tenses and Moods: Word Order
Compound tenses and moods are verb forms which are conjugated with two parts: a helping / auxiliary verb and a past participle, as in J'ai dansé. The word order can get a little complicated when additional grammatical structures like object pronouns and negation are introduced.negation • pronouns • verbs • word order
Indefinite and Partitive Articles Reduced to De
With articles, the de vs du, de la, des choice has to do with affirmative/negative and whether there's an adjective in front of the noun.adjectives • articles • negation • plurals • prepositions
Semi-Auxiliary Verbs: Word Order
It's very common to have two verbs in a row in both English and French, as in J'aime danser. The word order can get very complicated when additional grammatical structures like object pronouns and negation are introduced.negation • pronouns • verbs • word order
Ne littéraire
In formal, usually written French, there are certain verbs and constructions that can be made negative with just ne - the inclusion of pas or some other negative word is not required.C1 - Advanced French • formalities • negation
Negative Imperative
Telling someone not to do something is called, logically enough, a negative command.Double Negatives
In English, two negatives are said to make a positive: that is, they cancel one another out, and this is grammatically unacceptable. In French, however, négation double is alive and well. Two negatives sometimes make a positive, while other times they combine to make the negation stronger or more specific.Expressions with (ne …) pas
