Reduction of the Partitive Article
du, de la, de l’, des → de, d’
The four cases in which the partitive article gets “reduced” (i.e., from its full form to a simple “de”): after a negative adverb, after a quantitative expression, with a preceding plural adjective, and in compléments prépositionnels.
Negative Particles
Other Than Pas
The negative particles other than pas/point: plus, jamais, guère, personne, rien, ni…ni, aucun, ne…que.
Ne…que and What You Can Do With It
Ins and outs of the French construction “ne…que,” or “the ‘que’ that excludes from negation.
Ne Without Pas
Ne used without pas, both 1) having negative force, and 2) not having negative force.
Concessive Conditions in Les Liaisons dangereuses
An Elegant Construction Still in Use Today
Examples of the conditionnel concessif from Chloderlos de Laclos’s famous epistolary novel of 1782. Some involve the conditional present introduced by quand (rather than the imperfect indicative introduced by si), and some involve the imperfect subjunctive.
