French negation with numbers

hemlata g.A2Kwiziq community member

French negation with numbers

What is the negative of this sentence

Elle a cinq crayons 

Asked 2 years ago
CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Hemlata,

Elle a cinq crayons -> Elle n'a pas cinq crayons

Take a look at the link below: 

Ne ... pas = Not - with simple tenses (French Negations)

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Hemlata,

The main point of the lesson here is to understand that when the affirmative statement uses the indefinite article "un" (elle a un crayon), if the sentence is using the negative form then it will have "ne...pas de/d' " (elle n'a pas de crayon). 

Remember: When you want to emphasise the meaning of ONE (un/une) - not just a/an - as in He doesn't have ONE car, but TWO, you will keep un/une in the negative sentence - but here it doesn't mean no/any.

If there is a number (and not an indefinite article) in the affirmative statement (elle a cinq crayons) and you simply want to focus on the fact that she doesn't have five of them, then it will become "elle n'a pas cinq crayons / elle n'en a pas cinq".

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

hemlata g.A2Kwiziq community member

Merci Céline

But if the sentence is elle a un chien, it becomes elle n'a pas de chien. So why in this case elle a cinq crayons, it does not become elle n'a pas de crayons

Maureen O.A2Kwiziq community member

Elle n'a pas cinq crayons

ארנה ל.A0Kwiziq community member
Elle n'a pas cinq crayons
Ahulani M.A2Kwiziq community member

She can't have no crayons, because she has 5! But if your meaning is that she doesn't have one crayon, but rather 5 then you are saying something else. Depends on what you mean.

French negation with numbers

What is the negative of this sentence

Elle a cinq crayons 

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