Confusion with ne...pas.
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Renate A.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Confusion with ne...pas.
Confusion with ne....pas. First I thought always de after ne... pas. Then I read there is an exception when être is used. Use un/une. What is happening then in this example?Les filles jouent au foot? Non, elles ne jouent pas au foot. Is there a lesson that explains all the options?
Asked 7 years ago
Ron T. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Bonjour Renate,
I am unsure of what you have read about the use of «de» following the negative; however, I found this on another resource site that supports your statement. (I find that researching other sites at times can give me another viewpoint concerning a question that I might
have. I did find this article on a site that supports the non-use of «de» following the negative
In a negative sentence, the indefinite articles un, une, des are replaced by «de or d'»:
Tex: Joe-Bob, tu as un chien?
Joe-Bob: Mais non! Je n'ai pas de chien. Je suis un écureuil.
Tex: Corey, tu as des amis?
Corey: Mais non! Je n'ai pas d'amis. Je suis un cafard.
*****However, following the verb «être», the indefinite articles «un, une, des» remain unchanged in the negative:
Edouard: Joe-Bob, c'est un écureuil. Ce n'est pas un tatou!
Tex et Tammy, ce sont des tatous. Ce ne sont pas des escargots.
J'espère que ma réponse vous aidera.
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