This introduction covers Negatives — La négation within Negatives: ne...pas, ne...jamais, ne...rien for GCSE French. Revise Negatives: ne...pas, ne...jamais, ne...rien in Core Grammar Toolkit for GCSE French with 15 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 1 of 7 in this topic. Use this introduction to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
🚫 Negatives — La négation
Being able to say what you don't do, never experience, or no longer enjoy is just as important as saying what you do — in fact, AQA examiners specifically look for a range of negatives as evidence of grammatical breadth. A student who only uses ne…pas is capped; a student who reaches for ne…jamais, ne…plus, and ne…rien signals real command of the language.
Practice questions for Negatives: ne...pas, ne...jamais, ne...rien
Which sentence correctly makes 'je mange' negative in French?
What does 'je ne mange jamais de viande' mean in English?
Quick recall flashcards
ne...que
only -- je n'ai que cinq euros (I only have five euros). 'Que' goes before the thing you are limiting, NOT immediately after the verb.
ne...rien
nothing -- je ne fais rien (I do nothing / I don't do anything). Can also start a sentence: rien ne marche (nothing works).