Why not "n'a embrassé que Alexandre"?

sympathetic c.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Why not "n'a embrassé que Alexandre"?

Alexandre is a proper noun, so shortening it to "qu'Alexandre" is optional and not necessary. Yet I got marked wrong for writing "n'a embrassé que Alexandre"

Asked 1 year ago
CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Sympathetic,

The contraction does happen most of the time. Also, when "que" is followed by a name that is long, like "Alexandre", the contraction happens. However, it might not happen with shorter names or with names starting with a "foreign" consonant (Yves, Anouk)

Take a look here (Office québécois de la langue française) where you'll find a good set of examples explaining this:

Élision avec un nom propre

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

You shouldn’t be marked wrong for not contracting, although it is common practice now to contract, especially with well-known proper nouns such as Alexandre. 

Is it possible the answer was expected to be “ n’a que embrassé Alexandre “ ? 

sympathetic c.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

It was "she kissed only Alexandre", hence "elle n'a embrassé que Alexandre" was my response.

Why not "n'a embrassé que Alexandre"?

Alexandre is a proper noun, so shortening it to "qu'Alexandre" is optional and not necessary. Yet I got marked wrong for writing "n'a embrassé que Alexandre"

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Let me take a look at that...