A2
rien, personne, jamais, que
How French negation works beyond ne pas, the words that replace pas, and how rien and personne behave as subjects.
Ne stays; pas is replaced by something more specific.
| ne … rien | nothing |
| ne … personne | nobody |
| ne … jamais | never |
| ne … plus | no longer |
| ne … que | only |
Je ne vois rien.
I not see nothing
I can’t see anything.
Il ne mange plus de viande.
he not eats more of meat
He doesn’t eat meat any more.
Only one at a time
Je ne vois pas rien.
Je ne vois rien.
Rien has already replaced pas. Using both is a double negative that French does not allow, and it is the commonest error in this area.
In the passé composé, rien and jamais go inside
But personne goes after the participle.
Je n’ai rien vu.
I not-have nothing seen
I saw nothing.
Je n’ai vu personne.
I not-have seen nobody
I saw nobody.
That split has no logic worth learning — it is simply how the two words behave, and saying them aloud a few times fixes it faster than the rule does.
They can be the subject
Rien and personne can start a sentence, and ne still appears before the verb.
Personne n’est venu.
nobody not-is come
Nobody came.
Rien n’a changé.
nothing not-has changed
Nothing has changed.
ne … que is not a negative
It means only, and unlike the others it does not turn the article into de.
Je n’ai que dix euros.
I not-have that ten euros
I’ve only got ten euros.
Il ne boit que du thé.
he not drinks that some tea
He only drinks tea.
Du thé, not de thé — because nothing is being denied. See the partitive.