When is 'de' required after ne...pas?
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Renate A.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
When is 'de' required after ne...pas?
Les filles jouent au foot? Non, elles ne jouent pas au foot. Why isn't it - ....pas de foot? I can't get my head around when de is required after pas and when it is not. Is there a lesson that explains this?
Asked 7 years ago
Ron T. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Bonjour Renate,
I learned this phrasing as «ne. . . pas de. . .», for example Do you have any apples --> Avez-vous des pommes. Non, je n'ai pas de pommes. that is to say that in negation «de» follows ne. . .pas regardless if it is plural or not. However, i recently saw a lesson that indicated «de» is not used in negation following être : (the examples and explanation below are from another online resource)
I don’t want any rice: je ne veux pas de riz
I don’t want any love: je ne veux pas d’amour
I don’t want any mustard: je ne veux pas de moutarde
I don’t want any water: je ne veux pas d’eau
I don’t need any money: je n’ai pas besoin d’argent
I don’t want anymore apples: je ne veux plus de pommes.
Exception: with the verb ‘to be’
It is gold: c’est de l’or
It is not gold: ce n’est pas de l’or (we keep the definite article)
Here is a link to one of the negation lessons:
N'avoir plus de = To have none left (French Negations)
Bonne chance!
Ron
Renate A.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Thanks for that. I haven't looked at the lesson yet but what you said above, which is what I already understood, does not explain the example I gave. Why not de in this case. Since then I have seen a further example that did not use de which also happened to be a sport reference. Coincidence or what?
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