Being Famous: Grammar and Phonics (AQA GCSE French): Revision Note
Exam code: 8652
In listening and reading tasks, negative structures can change the meaning of a sentence. You can also use them to add more detail to your writing and speaking. Let's look at these in more detail.
Negation
Use negatives to say not, never, nothing and nobody in French
Negatives in French are made up of two parts, e.g. ne … pas
The first part is always ne, which shortens to n’ before a vowel or silent ‘h’
The two negative parts go around the verb
English | French | Examples | |
not | ne … pas | Elle ne chante pas dans un groupe. | She does not sing in a group. |
never | ne … jamais | Il ne joue jamais dans une équipe. | He never plays in a team. |
nothing, not anything | ne … rien | L’acteur ne dit rien sur le film. | The actor says nothing about the film. |
nobody, no one, not anybody | ne … personne | Je ne connais personne qui aime cette chanson. | I don’t know anybody who likes this song. |
In the perfect tense, the negative parts go around the auxiliary verb
elle n’a pas chanté
she did not sing
je ne suis pas allée au concert
I did not go to the concert
If there is more than one verb in the sentence (e.g. modal verb structures), the negative parts go around the main (conjugated) verb
il ne veut jamais jouer
he never wants to play
je ne vais rien regarder
I am not going to watch anything
Higher tier only
For Higher tier, you also need to know how to say no longer, not yet, neither … nor, and only
English | French | Examples | |
no longer, not any more | ne … plus | Elle ne chante plus dans un groupe. | She no longer sings in a group. / She doesn’t sing in a group any more. |
not yet | ne … pas encore | Il ne joue pas encore dans une équipe. | He doesn’t play in a team yet. |
neither … nor, not … or | ne … ni (… ni) | Elle ne sait ni chanter ni danser. | She doesn’t know how to sing or dance. / She knows neither how to sing nor how to dance. |
only | ne … que | Les célébrités ne pensent qu’à l’argent. | Celebrities only think about money. |
Use ne rien and ne personne at the start of a sentence to mean ‘nobody + verb’ and ‘nothing + verb’:
Personne ne comprend la vie des célébrités
Nobody understands the lives of celebrities
Rien ne semble vrai dans la télé-réalité
Nothing seems real in reality TV
Being famous: phonics
The sound [ien] is a nasal sound, and the [n] at the end is not pronounced
Elle ne dit rien pendant l’entretien.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
It is important to know how to say and spell French words accurately. The sound covered here can appear in any words throughout the course.
Unlock more, it's free!
Did this page help you?