Verb drill
French negative word order: a sentence repair drill
Repair twelve French negatives with verbs, auxiliaries, pronouns and infinitives. Compare rien and personne, then keep the intended negative meaning.
- A2
- 12 answers
- Checked all at once
- Accents count
- Learn this in the A2 notebook →
In short
Find the verb frame before moving the negative words. Use Je ne le vois pas with a simple verb, Je ne l’ai pas vu with an auxiliary and ne pas le voir with an infinitive. Check the negative expression itself: rien and personne occupy different positions in the compound past.
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| Frame | Correct example | Where the negative goes |
|---|---|---|
| Simple verb + object pronoun | Je ne la connais pas. | Ne before the pronoun; pas after the verb. |
| Compound tense | Je n’ai pas répondu. | Ne… pas surrounds the auxiliary. |
| Compound tense + rien | Je n’ai rien compris. | Rien goes before the participle. |
| Compound tense + personne | Je n’ai rencontré personne. | Personne goes after the participle. |
| Negative infinitive | Je préfère ne pas répondre. | Ne pas precedes the infinitive. |
| Negative command | Ne lui réponds pas ! | Return to the order before the verb. |
Keep the action attached to its pronoun. In Je ne vais pas lui répondre, lui belongs to répondre. In Je préfère ne pas lui répondre, both the negative infinitive and its recipient stay together after préfère. The two sentences express different intentions.
Where do the negative words go in French?
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Je n’ai pas encore répondu. | I have not replied yet. |
| Je ne réponds plus. | I no longer reply. |
| Je ne réponds jamais. | I never reply. |
| Je n’ai pas tout compris. | I did not understand everything. |
| Je n’ai rien compris. | I understood nothing. |
Choose the expression that matches the message. Pas tout leaves some understanding possible; rien denies any understanding. Moving the words is only one part of the repair.
Twelve repairs
Each row gives a faulty draft. Type only the missing corrected words. Keep the subject, tense and negative meaning supplied. In the last round, “nothing”, “nobody” and “not yet” are part of the intended message.
1 · Simple and compound verbs
- Je pas comprends. → Je . (simple present)
- Je le ne vois pas. → Je . (keep le)
- Je n’ai compris pas. → Je . (negative around the auxiliary)
- Je l’ai ne pas envoyé. → Je . (l’ refers to le message)
2 · Infinitives and commands
- Je préfère ne lui pas répondre. → Je préfère . (ne pas + pronoun + infinitive)
- Je vais lui ne pas répondre. → Je . (meaning: I am not going to reply to him)
- Ne réponds-lui pas ! → (negative command)
- Ne le donne-moi pas ! → (negative command; keep me + le)
3 · Keep the right negative meaning
- Je n’ai trouvé rien. → Je . (I found nothing)
- Je n’ai personne rencontré. → Je . (I met nobody)
- Personne est venu. → Personne . (nobody came; formal written negative)
- Je n’ai répondu pas encore. → Je . (I have not replied yet)
In conversation, you will often hear ne omitted. For these written repairs, keep ne or n’. Check the next sound for elision: n’ai, but ne l’ai because ne is followed by the consonant in l’.