La Négation (negation)
Video
Notes
- In French, making a verb/sentence negative only requires two steps:
1) Identify the verb
2) Place the ne... pas (or other adverb, depending on what you want to say) around the verb
Ex: Elle aime les oranges. > Elle n'aime pas les oranges.
** If your verb begins with a vowel, ne turns into n' **
- There are many different negative adverbs (a word which modifies a verb, the second half of the negative) that are used in French, they are listed below:
ne... pas = not
> Elle ne joue pas le football. = She does not play football.
ne... rien = nothing
> Nous ne mangeons rien. = We eat nothing/We don't eat anything.
ne... plus = no longer
> Tu ne parles plus. = You no longer speak/You don't speak anymore.
ne... jamais = never
> Vous ne travaillez jamais. = Y'all never work.
ne... personne = nobody
> Il n'aime personne. = He likes nobody/He doesn't like anybody.
ne... que = only
> Je ne mange que la pizza. = I don't eat anything but pizza/I only eat pizza.
Activities
Introducing Negative Adverbs with Kif'n'dir by Zaho
Directions:
Directions:
- Give the students the song lyrics in French, found on this PDF.
- Have the students simply listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics the first time.
- Then, have the students go through and listen to the song a second time, this time seeing if they can identify the negative adverbs: pas, rien, jamais, plus (the song is missing personne and que). Make sure that students focus specifically on the negative adverbs without focusing on the other words that they see.
- After listening to the song, have students work through the lines in which they found the negative adverbs and decide what the lines mean. They can use a dictionary or WordReference to help with unknown vocabulary.
- Finally, watch the video one last time and have the students write a description of what they think the song is about.
- If your students are curious, give them the opportunity to look at the lyrics in English when they watch the video the last time.
Note: this translation is incorrect at the end, replacing "Je ne pleure pas" with "Je ne dors pas" and therefore "I don't sleep." In the original version it seems to say "I don't cry."
French Negations self-checking activity
A self-checking activity to practice making sentences negative.
Directions:
Materials: internet access
French Negative Sentences
A Quizlet set that allows students to practice the negative in a variety of activities. Oftentimes students love to play Scatter and Space Race against each other. The teacher can project the standings and have students race to have the best times.
Directions:
Materials: Quizlet set (at link above), internet access
A self-checking activity to practice making sentences negative.
Directions:
- Choose the correct negative form of the verb from the drop-down menu.
- Make sure you pay attention to the ne/n'!
Materials: internet access
French Negative Sentences
A Quizlet set that allows students to practice the negative in a variety of activities. Oftentimes students love to play Scatter and Space Race against each other. The teacher can project the standings and have students race to have the best times.
Directions:
- Work with the activities Learn, Flashcards or Speller to learn how to match the negative terms with their English definitions.
- Play Scatter to match negative terms with their definitions.
- Play Space Race to type out the English definition or the French term for each word.
Materials: Quizlet set (at link above), internet access
Additional Sites
French-Linguistics
Information on making sentences negative in French.
Tex's French Grammar pt. 1
A detailed introduction to basic negation.
Tex's French Grammar pt. 2
More information about the negative with a self-checking practice activity.
Tex's French Grammar pt. 3
Information about the supplementary negative adverbs as well as a self-checking practice activity.
Information on making sentences negative in French.
Tex's French Grammar pt. 1
A detailed introduction to basic negation.
Tex's French Grammar pt. 2
More information about the negative with a self-checking practice activity.
Tex's French Grammar pt. 3
Information about the supplementary negative adverbs as well as a self-checking practice activity.
Additional Videos
Video created by Frenchlearner.com.