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Pas tous or aucun? Eight questions on French partial negation

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Practise not all, none, not everything and nothing in eight French questions about messages, answers and understanding. Each answer explains the difference.

In short

Pas tous means “not all”; aucun means “none”. Je n’ai pas lu tous les messages leaves the number read open, while Je n’ai lu aucun message gives zero. Use pas tout for “not everything” and rien for “nothing”.

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A person reviewing some blank questionnaire sheets with an untouched stack beside them on a French desk.
Pas toutes leaves some answers still to check. Illustration: Atelier
Study first: four different messages
FrenchEnglishWhat it tells us
Je n’ai pas lu tous les messages.I haven’t read all the messages.The reading is incomplete.
Je n’ai lu aucun message.I haven’t read any messages.Zero messages read.
Je n’ai pas tout compris.I didn’t understand everything.Understanding is incomplete.
Je n’ai rien compris.I didn’t understand anything.Zero understanding.

Pas tous often suggests that some were read, but it gives no exact number. To make partial success explicit, add the part you completed: J’ai lu les deux premiers. For “none”, aucun replaces pas and normally goes with a singular noun: aucun message, aucune réponse.

  1. Question 1No account needed
    What does the sentence establish?Je n’ai pas lu tous les messages.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    The complete set was not read.. Pas tous denies complete reading. It leaves the exact number open.

  2. Question 2No account needed
    You read zero messages. Choose the sentence.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Je n’ai lu aucun message.. Aucun message gives zero. The other two sentences say the reading is incomplete.

  3. Question 3No account needed
    You mean “Not all the answers are correct”.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Les réponses ne sont pas toutes correctes.. Pas toutes denies that every answer is correct. Aucune says zero answers are correct.

  4. Question 4No account needed
    Complete “None of these answers is correct”.___ de ces réponses n’est correcte.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Aucune. Réponse is feminine. Aucune de ces réponses takes singular n’est.

  5. Question 5No account needed
    You understood the conclusion, but missed other parts. Choose the best opening.___, mais j’ai compris la conclusion.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Je n’ai pas tout compris. Pas tout compris fits partial understanding. The second clause tells us which part you understood.

  6. Question 6No account needed
    What quantity does this sentence give?Je n’ai lu que deux messages.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Exactly two messages. Ne… que deux restricts the number to two. It gives a quantity that pas tous leaves open.

  7. Question 7No account needed
    Complete the explicit zero statement.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Je n’ai aucune notification.. For this zero meaning, use ne… aucune. Pas toutes expresses incomplete coverage.

  8. Question 8No account needed
    Three people are free and two are busy. Which sentence fits?

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Les participants ne sont pas tous disponibles.. The group contains both free and busy people, so pas tous disponibles fits the situation.

What is the difference between pas tous and aucun?

Les réponses au questionnaire
  1. Nora

    Tu as vérifié toutes les réponses ?

    Have you checked all the answers?

  2. Malik

    Pas toutes. J’ai vérifié les cinq premières.

    Not all of them. I’ve checked the first five.

  3. Nora

    Et la dernière page ?

    And the last page?

  4. Malik

    Je n’ai encore vérifié aucune réponse sur cette page.

    I haven’t checked any answers on that page yet.

In the first reply, pas toutes refers to the whole questionnaire. In the last reply, aucune réponse sur cette page gives zero for one page. The set matters: the same person can have checked some answers overall and none on the final page.

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