#38 : Negation and "de"
Confusing stuffs for Lauren
If you ever learned French, I am sure you have come across negating a sentence. Not only adding one word but we have to put two words (sometimes more). Moreover we need to surround them around the auxiliary verb that we are negating.
Wow, it is already confusing. On top there is one more rule that we need to take into account. C’est parti!
One more? Yes, one more.
Here is a bit of myself. My first language is Korean.
Korean does not have words that is equivalent to “articles” instead we use context, demonstratives, and other linguistic elements to convey the same ideas.
Of course, the concept of articles is confusing for me as well as its usage. But today, I would like to introduce you something that is unique to “French” - changes in articles when a sentence is negated.
The article changes to “de” when it is negated
Here is a scenario for you all:
👩🏫 : J’ai du lait. (I have some milk.)
Pouvez-vous négativer cette phrase ? (Can you negate this sentence?)
👨🏼💼 : Je n’ai pas du lait. (I dont have milk.)
👩🏻🌾 : Je n’ai pas de lait. (I dont have milk.)
Which student got it correct?
Intuitively, we all think like the business man, okay I negated the sentence! However, in French when it is negated the partitive article changes to de.
Types of articles…
There three types of articles in French:
Definite Articles: refer to specific nouns known to both the speaker and the listener, equivalent to "the" in English. [le, la, l', les]
Indefinite Articles: refer to non-specific nouns, similar to "a" or "an" in English, and "some" for plural. [un, une, des]
Partitive Articles: refer to an unspecified quantity of something, often corresponding to "some" or "any" in English. [du, de la, de l', des]
So whenever I negate a sentence, I change the article to ‘de’?
In conclusion…
Partitive articles (du, de la, de l', des) become de/d' in negative sentences.
Indefinite articles (un, une, des) become de/d' in negative sentences.
Definite articles (le, la, l', les) remain unchanged in negative sentences.
Only partitive articles and indefinite articles are changed to ‘de’ when it is negated. NOT definite articles.
Des exercises pour vous ✍️
Check the answers in the comment. Je vous souhaite bonne chance!
J’aime l’art, c’est pourquoi je fais de l’art pendant mon temps libre. (I like art therefore I do art in my free time.)
J’ai mangé du pain perdu. (I ate French toast.)
J’ai une voiture. (I have a car.)
Il boit du vin. (He drank some wine.)
Il a d’autres amis en dehors de l’école. (They have some other friends outside of school.)
Elle a une cahier. (She has a notebook.)
Ils aiment les chiens. (They love dogs.)
In this article, I have not covered everything. Just like other things in life we need patience with language learning too. Instead of trying to learn everything at once, we learn step by step! I hope you learnt something new, and as always bonne chance pour nous! 💁♂️
1. Je n’aime pas l’art, c’est pourquoi je ne fais pas d’art pendant mon temps libre.
2. Je n’ai pas mangé de pain perdu.
3. Je n’ai pas de voiture.
4. Il ne boit plus de vin.
5. Il n’a pas d’autre amis en dehors de l’école.
6. Elle n’a pas de cahier.
7. Ils n’aiment pas les chiens.