Negatives and Question Forms

Negatives and Question Forms

Knowing how to make sentences negative and ask questions accurately will boost your marks across all four skills.

Negatives

The basic negative structure is a sandwich: ne ... pas around the verb.

• Je ne mange pas de viande. — I don't eat meat.
• Elle n'aime pas le sport. — She doesn't like sport.

Other Negative Expressions

French	English	Example
ne ... jamais	never	Je ne fume jamais. — I never smoke.
ne ... plus	no longer	Il ne joue plus au foot. — He no longer plays football.
ne ... rien	nothing	Je ne fais rien. — I do nothing.
ne ... personne	nobody	Il n'y a personne. — There is nobody.
ne ... que	only	Je n'ai que cinq euros. — I only have five euros.
ne ... ni ... ni	neither ... nor	Je n'aime ni le thé ni le café. — I like neither tea nor coffee.
ne ... aucun(e)	not any / none	Je n'ai aucune idée. — I have no idea.

Negatives with Compound Tenses

The negative wraps the auxiliary, not the past participle:

• Je n'ai pas mangé. — I didn't eat.
• Elle n'est jamais allée en France. — She has never been to France.

Exception: personne goes after the past participle: Je n'ai vu personne.

Negatives with Infinitives

Both parts go before the infinitive:

• Je préfère ne pas sortir. — I prefer not to go out.

Question Forms

Three ways to ask questions (from informal to formal):

1. Intonation (raise your voice at the end — speaking exam):

• Tu aimes le sport? — Do you like sport?

2. Est-ce que (most versatile — works everywhere):

• Est-ce que tu aimes le sport? — Do you like sport?
• Est-ce qu'il a fini? — Has he finished?

3. Inversion (formal — impressive in writing):

• Aimes-tu le sport? — Do you like sport?
• A-t-il mangé? — Has he eaten? (note the -t- for pronunciation)

Question Words

French	English
Qui	Who
Que / Qu'est-ce que	What
Où	Where
Quand	When
Comment	How
Pourquoi	Why
Combien (de)	How much / many
Quel(le)(s)	Which / What

• Où habites-tu? — Where do you live?
• Pourquoi est-ce que tu apprends le français? — Why are you learning French?
• Combien de frères as-tu? — How many brothers do you have?
• Quelle est ta matière préférée? — What is your favourite subject?

Exam Tips

• In speaking, est-ce que is your safest option — it works with every question word.
• In writing, using three or more different negatives across your response shows range.
• ne is often dropped in spoken French ("je sais pas") — be ready for this in listening but always include it in your own writing.
• Quel must agree: quel (m.s.), quelle (f.s.), quels (m.pl.), quelles (f.pl.).