In the short quiz, the sentence was 'Nous craignons qu'il ne change d'avis". The correct answer given was : 'We fear that he would change his mind'. Because of the 'ne', should the answer be " We fear that he would NOT change his mind? I also want to know whether 'change d'avis' is an expression? Thanks.
Would or would not?
- « Back to Q&A Forum
- « Previous questionNext question »
Andrea N.Kwiziq community member
Would or would not?
This question relates to:French lesson "Conjugate verbs in -aindre/-eindre/-oindre in the present tense in French (Le Présent)"
Asked 5 years ago
The "ne" in that sentence is purely stylistic and does not mean a negation. It is called "ne-explétif" and there are lessons on that topic on kwiziq at a higher level.
The expression is changer d'avis -- to change one's mind. Change is the subjunctive present of the verb changer.
Jean W.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Bonjour Andrea,
The clue that you are seeing the ne-expletif as Chris mentioned is that the "pas" is absent. For it to be a negative statement, there would have been a ne ... pas.
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