negation

French negationFrench 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.

Grammar Lessons

Ne explétif

French ne explétifDon't worry, it's not a swear word. In French, explétif is a grammatical term that serves only to draw attention to what precedes it.

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Grammar Lessons

Ne littéraire

Ne littéraire - Formal French NegationIn 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.

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Grammar Lessons

Negative Adjectives

French negative adjectivesFrench negative adjectives are used to negate or refuse nouns. Like other negative structures, negative adjectives - also called indefinite negative adjectives - have two parts, e.g., ne ... aucun.

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Grammar Lessons

Negative Adverbs

French negative adverbsNegative adverbs turn affirmative statements and questions into negative statements and questions. The most common English negative adverb is the word "not," but French is a little more complicated - quelle surprise ! ;-)

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Grammar Lessons

Negative Pronouns

French negative pronounsFrench negative pronouns (ne ... personne, ne ... rien) replace and simultaneously negate nouns. They may be the subject or object of the verb they're used with.

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Grammar Lessons

Never and Ever

JamaisIn 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.

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Vocabulary Lists

No – non, nan, niet…

No in French
No. No way, not me, on the contrary ... let's face it, just because we have to be negative sometimes doesn't mean we can't be creative, too. Here are some of the many ways to say no in French.

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