Today, we will be talking about double negation in French, followed by vocabulary related to money.
In English, it is often considered bad form to use double negatives. In other cases, using two negatives results in a positive (e.g., “There are never no guards outside” = “There are always guards outside”).However, this construction is prone to causing confusion and is still something to be avoided as much as possible.
This is not the case so much in French, where double negation is a very common occurrence. Most of the time in French, using two negatives results in an even stronger, more emphatic negative. Let’s lookat some examples in the lesson below.
Listen to Track 62
Je ne ferai plus jamais ça.- Mais il n’y a personne ici.- Il n’y aucune solution.- Alors ne reviens plus.
I’ll never do that.- But there’s nobody here.- There is a solution.- So do not come back.
First, let’s review the most common negative words and expressions:
ne…pas = not
ne…plus = no longer
ne…jamais = not ever/ never
ne…rien = nothing
ne…personne = no one
ne…pas encore = not yet
ne…ni…ni… = neither…nor
…ne…que = only
ne… aucun(e) = absolutely no/ none/ not a single + noun
ne… guère = hardly
nulle part = nowhere
ne… point = not at all
Here are some rules to think about when using double negation in French.
Using Ne…pas with double negation
❑ When used together with ‘rien,’ it cancels out the negative and becomes a positive. (“Ce n’est pas rien” literally translates to “It’s not nothing.” Therefore, “It’s something.”)
❑ You cannot pair ne..pas with aucun, jamais, or personne.
Listen to Track 63
Tu ne veux jamais venir. = You never want to come.
Il n’y a personne. = There is nobody.
Je n’ai aucun problème. = I have no problem.
Je ne veux pas jamais grandir. = I never want to grow up.
Je n’ai pas vu personne. = I didn’t see anyone.
Je n’ai pas aucun ami. = I have no friends.
Using ne … jamais and ne … plus in double negation
❑ You can use ne … jamais and plus, or vice versa.
❑ You can also use ne … jamais and ne…plus with aucun, personne, rien, and nulle part.
Listen to Track 64
Je ne veux plus jamais les voir.Il n’y a plus rien à mangerJe n’ai jamais rien à faireTu n’iras plus nulle part.
I never want to see them.There is nothing to eat.I never have anything to do.You will not go nowhere.
❑ Just like ne … pas, take note that you cannot combine ne… guère/point with rien, jamais, personne or nulle part.
Listen to Track 65
Enter your text here…Je ne viendrais pas avec toi. = I won’t come with you.
Tu n’as aucune raison de crier. = You don’t have any reason to shout.
Il n’y a guère de problème. = There is hardly a problem.
Il n’a point d’idée. = He has no idea.
Nous ne viendrons plus jamais ici. = We will never come here.
Listen to Track 66
– Je suis fatigué, je ne viendrai pas.
– De toute façon, il n’y aura personne.
– Il n’y a jamais personne…
– Je ne ferai plus de fête.
– Tu n’as guère besoin de t’énerver.
– I’m tired, I will not come.
– Anyway, there won’t be anybody there.
– There is never anyone …
– I won’t make it to the party.
– You don’t need to get upset.