AtelierLe journal · French, understood
English

Language

The course

Updated

Quiz

Expletive ne quiz: read je crains qu’il ne vienne correctly

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Eight questions on optional expletive ne after fear, avant que and à moins que, with contrasts that show when pas changes the meaning.

In short

Expletive ne adds no negative meaning: Je crains qu’il ne vienne means “I fear he may come”. You also meet it after avant que and à moins que. It is optional and belongs especially to careful written French; a real negative word such as pas changes the meaning.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learnRed watch out

A person sits in a modest French living room looking anxiously toward a closed front door, with an empty chair nearby.
An uncertain arrival gives je crains qu’il ne vienne a setting. Illustration: Atelier
Study first: three short contrasts
FrenchEnglishValue
Je crains qu’il ne vienne.I fear he may come.Coming is feared.
Je crains qu’il vienne.I fear he may come.Same fear, with optional ne omitted.
Je crains qu’il ne vienne pas.I fear he may not come.Not coming is feared.

The fear expression introduces a possibility, not a confirmed event. Je crains qu’elle ne refuse reports a fear of refusal. It leaves open whether she will refuse. The forms vienne, soit, refuse and parte below are subjunctives; deleting optional ne leaves that verb choice in place.

  1. Question 1No account needed
    What event does the speaker fear?Je crains que Nora ne parte.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Nora leaving.. The feared event is departure. Expletive ne adds no negative meaning, and fear leaves the outcome open.

  2. Question 2No account needed
    Choose the version with the same meaning and optional ne removed.J’ai peur qu’il ne soit trop tard.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    J’ai peur qu’il soit trop tard.. Removing optional ne keeps the subjunctive soit and the concern that it may be too late.

  3. Question 3No account needed
    Choose the meaning.Répondons avant qu’il ne soit trop tard.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Let’s reply before it is too late.. After avant que, this ne is expletive. The reply should come before the point when it is too late.

  4. Question 4No account needed
    Read the exception introduced by à moins que.Nous partirons, à moins qu’elle ne refuse.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    We will leave unless she refuses.. À moins qu’elle ne refuse means “unless she refuses”. Refusal is the exception that could change the plan.

  5. Question 5No account needed
    What is feared when pas is present?Je crains qu’il ne comprenne pas.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    His not understanding.. Ne … pas is a real negative here. The speaker is concerned that he may fail to understand.

  6. Question 6No account needed
    Choose the fear of a positive event: she might accept.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Je crains qu’elle n’accepte.. N’accepte contains expletive ne. Adding pas or jamais changes the feared event to non-acceptance.

  7. Question 7No account needed
    Keep this ordinary concessive clause correct.Bien qu’elle ___ prête, elle hésite.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    soit. Bien que takes the subjunctive soit. It does not by itself license expletive ne.

  8. Question 8No account needed
    What extra information does jamais give?J’ai peur qu’elle ne réponde jamais.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    She may never reply.. Ne … jamais has real negative meaning: the fear is that she may never reply.

What is the expletive ne in French?

Le résultat est meilleur que je ne le pensais.

The result is better than I thought.

A comparison of inequality can also contain expletive ne. Here it compares the result with an earlier expectation.

Je ne peux venir.

I cannot come.

In formal or literary French, ne can express a real negative without pas, including with pouvoir. The construction determines the reading.

For the fear and avant que patterns above, read the event after ne directly: arrival, departure, refusal or being too late. Then look for an actual negative word. Keeping those two steps separate prevents “may come” from becoming “may not come”.

Keep going