Advanced French Negation: ne... que, ni... ni, aucun

Beyond ne... pas, French has four more negatives with traps of their own. Each wraps the verb the same way, ne before it and the second word after, but each does something different to the sentence around it. The basic pairs (pas, plus, jamais, rien, personne) are on French negation.

ne... que: only

ne... que looks negative but means only. It restricts; it does not deny.

• Je ne bois que de l'eau. - I only drink water.
• Elle n'a que dix ans. - She is only ten.
• On ne vit qu'une fois. - You only live once.

que sits right in front of what it restricts, so moving it moves the meaning:

• Il ne mange que des légumes le soir. - In the evening he eats only vegetables.
• Il ne mange des légumes que le soir. - He eats vegetables only in the evening.

que keeps the article

After pas, un, une, du, de la and des become de. After que they stay, because nothing is being denied.

• Je ne bois pas d'eau. - I don't drink water.
• Je ne bois que de l'eau. - I only drink water.

seulement says the same thing in one word, with no ne: Je bois seulement de l'eau. - I only drink water. Both are everyday French.

ni... ni: neither... nor

ne goes before the verb as usual, and ni goes in front of each of the two things denied.

The indefinite and partitive articles disappear completely, with no de left behind. The definite article and possessives stay, because they point at something specific.

• Je n'ai ni frère ni sœur. - I have neither a brother nor a sister.
• Je ne bois ni café ni thé. - I drink neither coffee nor tea.
• Je n'aime ni le café ni le thé. - I like neither coffee nor tea.

When ni... ni opens the sentence as the subject, ne still comes before the verb, which is usually plural:

• Ni mon père ni ma mère ne sont venus. - Neither my father nor my mother came.
• Ni lui ni elle ne parlent français. - Neither he nor she speaks French.

aucun: not a single one

aucun goes with ne and agrees with its noun in gender, but stays singular: there is no plural of not a single one.

• Il n'y a aucun problème. - There's no problem at all.
• Je n'ai aucune idée. - I have no idea.
• Aucun de mes amis n'est venu. - None of my friends came.
• Tu as des questions ? - Aucune. - Any questions? - None.

As a subject, aucun still needs ne before the verb: Aucun train ne part ce soir. - No train leaves tonight.

The one exception to the singular is a noun that only exists in the plural: sans aucuns frais - at no cost at all.

nulle part: nowhere

ne... nulle part is the negative of quelque part (somewhere).

• Tu as vu mes clés quelque part ? - Have you seen my keys anywhere?
• Non, je ne les vois nulle part. - No, I can't see them anywhere.
• Je ne vais nulle part ce soir. - I'm not going anywhere tonight.

Stacking negatives

French combines negatives with a single ne, and they add up instead of cancelling out.

• Je ne dis jamais rien. - I never say anything.
• Il ne voit plus personne. - He doesn't see anyone any more.
• Elle ne mange plus jamais de viande. - She never eats meat any more.

The usual order is plus, then jamais, then rien or personne. pas stays out of these stacks: Je ne vois pas personne is wrong in standard French. The common exception is ne... pas que, not only: Il n'y a pas que l'argent. - Money isn't everything.

In books you will also meet ne... guère (hardly): Il n'a guère d'argent. - He has hardly any money.

In the passé composé

The negatives split into two camps. Pas, plus, jamais and rien sit between the auxiliary and the participle. Personne, que, aucun and nulle part go after the participle.

A rule of thumb: the short adverb-like words tuck inside; the ones that work like an object or a place come after the full verb.

Mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. Rewrite three ne... pas sentences with ne... que and check the article.
2. Say what you have neither of: Je n'ai ni... ni...
3. Put five negatives into the passé composé, inside or after the participle.