Negative Particles
Other Than Pas
Table of Contents
I. The Particles and Their Contraries
A. Plus <> Encore, etc.
The negative particle plus (no longer, no more, not any more) corresponds to the positive adverbs encore (“still, again, OR more”), toujours (when toujours means “still”), souvent, quelquefois, de temps en temps…
| Plus | Encore, etc. |
| Il ne m’aime plus. (He doesn’t love me any more.) |
Il m’aime encore. Il m’aime toujours. (He still loves me.) |
| Je ne veux plus d’escargots. (I don’t want any more snails.) |
Je veux encore des escargots. (I want more snails.) |
| Il ne me téléphone plus. (He doesn’t telephone me anymore.) |
Il me téléphone / souvent / parfois / de temps en temps. (He telephones me / often / sometimes / from time to time.) |
Pas Encore <> Déjå
| Pas encore | Déjà |
| Il n’est pas encore venu. (He hasn’t come yet.) |
Il est déjà venu. (He has already come.) |
B. Jamais <> Toujours, etc.
The negative particle jamais corresponds to the positive adverbs toujours (meaning “always”), quelquefois, souvent, etc.
| Jamais | Toujours, etc. |
| Je ne lis jamais le journal le dimanche. (I never read the newspaper on Sundays.) |
Je lis / toujours / souvent / quelquefois / le journal le dimanche. (I / always / often / sometimes / read the newspaper on Sundays.) |
| Je n’ai jamais visité la France. (I have never visited France.) |
J’ai visité la France (une fois). (I have visited France [once].) |
C. Guère <> Beaucoup, etc.
The negative adverb guère (scarcely, hardly) corresponds to the positive adverbs beaucoup, souvent (a lot, often).
| Guère | Beaucoup, etc. |
| Je ne lis guère le journal. (I hardly [ever] read the newspaper.) |
Je lis souvent le journal. (I often read the newspaper.) |
D. Personne <> Quelqu’un, Tout le monde
| Personne | Quelqu’un, etc. |
| Personne ne m’a rendu visite (Nobody visited me.) |
Quelqu’un / Un ami / Tout le monde m’a rendu visite. (Someone / A friend / Everybody / visited me.) |
E. Rien <> Quelque chose, Tout
| Rien | Quelque chose, Tout |
| Je n’ai rien vu. (I saw nothing = I didn’t see anything.) |
J’ai vu quelque chose. J’ai tout vu. (I saw something. I saw everything.) |
F. Aucun <> Un, etc.
The negative adjective aucun(e) (no, not a single) corresponds to the numeral adjective/indefinite article un(e) (one, a), the indefinite adjective tous (all…), the indefinite pronoun tout le monde (everybody).
| Aucun(e) | Un(e)… |
| aucun homme (no human bean, not a single human bean) |
un homme / tous les hommes (a/one human bean / all human beans) |
| Aucun n’a réussi. (None [No one, Not a single one] succeeded.) |
Quelqu’un a réussi. Tout le monde a réussi. (Someone succeeded. Everyone succeeded.) |
| Aucun étudiant n’a réussi. (No student, Not a single student succeeded.) |
Un étudiant / Quelques étudiants / Tous les étudiants / ont réussi. (A/One student / Some students / All the students / succeeded.) |
| Aucun des édudiants n’a réussi. (None [Not a one] of the students succeeded.) |
Un des étudiants a réussi. (One of the students succeeded.) |
It can be used as a substantive (an adjective used as a noun):
Combien des élèves ont réussi à l’examen? –Aucun. (“How many students passed the text?” “Not a single one.”)
G. Ni…ni <> Et…et
The negative conjunctions ni…ni (neither…nor) correspond to the positive conjunctions et…et (both…and).
| Ni…ni | Et…et |
| Il n’a ni femme ni enfants. (He has neither wife nor children.) |
Il a et une femme et des enfants. (He has both a wife and children.) |
| Il n’aime ni le cinéma ni le théâtre. (He likes neither movies nor stage-plays.) |
Il aime et le cinéma et le théâtre. (He likes both movies and stage-plays.) |
| Il n’a parlé ni au président ni à la femme de celui-ci. (He has spoken neither to the president nor to the president’s wife.) |
Il a parlé et au président et à la femme de celui-ci. (He has spoken to both the president and the president’s wife.) |
II. More About Plus
Study these excellent examples.
- Don José to Carmen: Tu ne m’aimes donc plus? (So…you don’t love me anymore?)
- Il ne vient plus aux réunions. (He doesn’t come to the meetings anymore.)
- Il n’est plus venu aux réunions. (From that point on, he didn’t come to the meetings anymore = he stopped coming to the meetings.)
- Je ne te (re)verrai plus. (I will [never] see you again. [I will not see you any more.])
- Ils n’ont plus de vin. (They have no more wine = They’re out of wine.)
- Je n’ai plus d’énergie. (I have no more energy.)
- Il ne nous reste plus d’espoir. (We have no hope left. [There remains to us no more hope.])
- Il n’a plus mangé d’escargots. (From that point on, he didn’t eat any more snails.)
Don’t (if you can help it) confuse the negative plus (= no more, no longer) with the positive plus (= more!).
| Plus positive | Plus negative |
| Il a plus de vingt ans. (He’s more than twenty [years old].) |
Il n’a plus vingt ans. (He’s not twenty [years old] any more.) |
| Je ne l’aime pas plus que vous. (I don’t love him any more than you do.) |
Je ne l’aime plus. (I don’t love him anymore.) |
III. Ne…que (The que that excludes from negation)
Ne…que is the ordinary way the French say “only.” But its structure is more like: “not…save…,” “not…except for…” I like to say that in the ne…que construction, the ne initiates negation, and then the que excludes from the negation everything that follows it (the que).
Moralists of the 17th century and later were particularly fond of the construction, because it is useful for reducing our seemingly honorable actions to their base motivations:
On ne loue d’ordinaire que pour être loué.
One praises normally only in order to be praised.
L’amour de la justice n’est en la plupart des hommes que la crainte de souffrir l’injustice.
The love of justice is in most men only the fear of suffering injustice.–La Rochefoucauld
Un sot n’est loué que par un plus sot.
A fool is praised only by a greater fool.–Tharaud
A not very logical development of ne…que meaning “only,” but one that distinguished writers (e.g., Claudel) allow, is pas que to mean “not only.”
Jean-Paul n’est pas que philosophe, il est aussi romancier.
Jean-Paul is not only a philosopher; he’s also a novelist. –JSM
Il n’y a pas qu’une seule forme de l’intelligence.
There is more than just one single form of intelligence. –Tharaud
Can you use ne…que for something like: “He is only (doing something),” in other words, with regard to the verb? Yes! With the help of the verb faire:
Il ne tuera pas l’animal, il ne fera que le blesser.
He will not kill the animal, he will only wound it. –Grévisse
Here is an elegant construction, when the verb is in a compound tense:
Un oiseau tomba…que ma flèche n’avait que blessé.
A bird fell…that my arrow had only wounded. –Gide
Usually however, one would say:
- …que ma flèche n’avait fait que blesser.
IV. When Negative Particles Accumulate
Other than pas/point, the negative particles can be used together. Their meaning was not originally, and in a sense even now is not, primarily negative; the negative element comes from the preceding ne. In translating sentences with multiple negative particles, join the negativity of the ne with only one of the subsequent particles; the others must be treated as (in a sense) positive.
- Plus, Aucun:
Je n’y vois plus aucun remède.
I don’t see any remedy for it henceforth; I don’t see any remedy for it anymore. –Grévisse - Jamais, Aucun:
Il n’a jamais eu aucun ennemi.
He never had [has never had] a single enemy. –Grévisse - Guere, Plus:
Tant de grandeur ne nous touche plus guère.
So much greatness scarcely touches us any more. –Racine - Guere, Jamais:
Philinte ne dit guère jamais “non” tout court.
Philinte hardly ever says a flat no. –Gide - Guere, Que:
Il n’y a guère que vous qui ayez lu ce livre.
Scarcely anyone but you has read this book. (There is scarcely anyone but you…) –Littré - Guere, Rien:
On n’en sait guère rien.
One scarcely knows anything about it. –Martinot - Personne, Plus:
Personne ne m’a plus fait visite.
Nobody visited me again (=from that point on). –GrévisseJe ne vois plus personne.
I don’t see anybody anymore.–Grévisse - Personne, Jamais:
Personne ne m’a jamais secouru.
Nobody ever helped me. –GrévisseJe n’ai jamais repoussé personne.
I never rebuffed anyone.–Grévisse - Plus, Que:
Depuis que le cher Péguy s’en est allé vers sa fin…, on voudrait que Jeanne d’Arc n’appartînt plus qu’aux enfants.
Since dear old Péguy has gone off to his end…, one would prefer that Joan of Arc belonged only to children henceforth (belonged to [nobody] anymore except children). –Bernanos - Plus Guere Que:
Avant le Concile, la liturgie n’était plus guère qu’un cadravre embaumé. Après le Concile, elle n’est plus guère qu’un cadavre décomposé.
Before the Council, the liturgy was scarcely (anything) anymore but (than) an embalmed corpse. After the Council, it is hardly (anything) anymore but (than) a decomposed corpse. –Louis Bouyer
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