Affirmatives Vs Negatives

Question 1

What is the english equivalent of affirmative expressions

Answer 1

Always vs never, something vs. nothing. In French, they are easy to memorize in pairs or groups.

Question 2

Negative expressions resemble

Answer 2

Most French negative expressions resemble the ne… pas construction. They omit pas and combine ne/n’… with another word (jamais, plus, rien, etc.) instead.

Question 3

What happes to the indefinite article, the partitive article, and definite articles before a noun with ne…pas?

Answer 3

As with ne… pas, the indefinite article (un/une/des) and the partitive article (du/de la/de l’) become de/d’ before a noun. Definite articles (le/la/ les) do not change.

Question 4

Sometimes

Answer 4

Parfois/quelquefois

Question 5

Often

Answer 5

Souvent

Question 6

Always

Answer 6

Toujours

Question 7

Never

Answer 7

Ne…jamais

Question 8

In the negative, object pronouns follow ______ and precede the verb, as they do with the ______ construction.

Answer 8

In the negative, object pronouns follow ne/n’ and precede the verb, as they do with the ne… pas construction.

• Faites-vous souvent la cuisine? (Do you often do the cooking?)
• En réalité, je ne la fais jamais! (Actually, I never do it!)

Question 9

Already

Answer 9

Déjà

Question 10

Not yet

Answer 10

Ne…pas encore

Question 11

Still

Answer 11

Encore

Question 12

No longer, not anymore

Answer 12

Ne…plus

Question 13

Something

Answer 13

Quelque chose

Question 14

Everything

Answer 14

Tout

Question 15

Someone

Answer 15

Quelqu’un

Question 16

Everyone

Answer 16

Tout le monde

Question 17

Nothing, not anything

Answer 17

Ne…rien

Question 18

No one, not anyone

Answer 18

Ne…personne

Question 19

Which affirmatives or negatives are followed by à or de/d’

Answer 19

Quelque chose, quelqu’un, rien, and personne, when required, are objects of a preposition following à or de/d’. In these instances, the position of ne/n’ does not change.

• De quoi Laurent a-t-il peur? Il n’a peur de rien! (What is Laurent scared of? He’s not scared of anything!)
• Tu penses à quelqu’un? Non, Je ne pense à personne. (Are you thinking about someone? No, I’m not thinking about anyone)

Question 20

Which affirmatives or negatives only require ne/n’?

Answer 20

Jamais, rien, personne, pas encore, and pas toujours can be simple answers by themselves, without using ne/n’.

• Qui t’appelle souvent? Personne. (Who calls you often? No one.)
• Tu reçois un salaire pour ton travail? Pas encore. (Do you get a salary for your work? Not yet.)
• Alors, qu’est-ce qu’ils font? Rien. (So, what are they doing? Nothing)
• Est-ce que vous mangez du porc? Jamais. (Do you eat pork? Never.)

Question 21

Which affirmatives and negatives can be used as the subject of the sentence preceding ne/n’?

Answer 21

Rien and personne can also be used as subjects of a sentence. In this con- struction rien and personne precede ne/n’.
Tu as l’air triste, Aimée… C’est vrai. Rien ne m’intéresse. (You look sad, Aimée…That’s true. Nothing interests me.

Vous leur téléphonez? Oui, mais personne ne répond. (Are you calling them? Yes, but no one is answering)

Question 22

How do you express limits of something

Answer 22

Ne… que (only), is not a negative expression, but a limiting one. Its synonym is seulement.
In expressions using ne… que, the element que is placed before the noun (i.e., the amount that is “limited”).

*Je n’ai que cinq euros. (J’ai seulement cinq euros.)
(I only have five euros)

*Il ne fait que deux sports. Nous ne pouvons lire que
trois livres par an. (We can read only three books a year.)