separation of negatives

George H.C1Kwiziq community member

separation of negatives

Please can you explain why you can say je n'ai rien dit à personne but not je n'ai jamais dit rien?

Asked 4 years ago
Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Personne follows the past participle or infinitive of compound or dual verb constructions, whereas rien always follows the auxiliary/conjugated verb, and is placed before the infinitive/past participle https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/negative-pronouns-2/

George H. asked:

separation of negatives

Please can you explain why you can say je n'ai rien dit à personne but not je n'ai jamais dit rien?

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