Ne explétif - French Expletive Ne
The ne explétif is used after certain verbs and conjunctions. I call it a "non-negative ne," because it has no negative value in and of itself. It is used in situations where the main clause has a negative (either negative-bad or negative-negated) meaning, such as expressions of fear, warning, doubt, and negation.
The ne explétif is disappearing to some extent, and is more common in literary than in colloquial French, but it is still important to be able to recognize it so that when you do see or hear it, you understand that it does not make the subordinate clause negative (negated).
This list is not exhaustive, but contains the most common French words that expect the ne explétif.
| Verbs* | Conjunctions* | Comparatives | |||
| avoir peur | to be afraid | à moins que | unless | autre | other |
| craindre | to fear | avant que | before | meilleur | better |
| douter° | to doubt | de crainte que | for fear that | mieux | best |
| empêcher | to prevent | de peur que | for fear that | moins | less |
| éviter | to avoid | plutôt que | rather than | pire | worse |
| nier° | to deny | sans que | without | plus | more |
| redouter | to dread | ||||
| * Incidentally, these conjunctions and verbs all take the subjunctive. | |||||
| ° These require the ne explétif only in negative or interrogative constructions. | |||||
Note: If the subordinate clause is supposed to have a negative (negated) meaning, just use ne... pas as usual (examples in parentheses).
| Verbs | |
| J'évite qu'il ne découvre la raison. | I'm avoiding his discovering the reason. |
| Nie-t-il qu'il n'ait vu ce film ? | Does he deny seeing this movie? |
| Elle a peur qu'il ne revienne. (Elle a peur qu'il ne revienne pas.) |
She's afraid that he will come back. (She's afraid that he won't come back.) |
| Conjunctions | |
| Il est parti avant que nous n'ayons mangé. | He left before we ate. |
| Je n'y vais pas de peur qu'il ne soit là. (Je n'y vais pas de peur qu'il ne soit pas là.) |
I'm not going for fear that he will be there. (I'm not going for fear that he won't be there.) |
| C'est facile à moins que tu ne sois trop faible. (C'est facile à moins que tu ne sois pas fort.) |
It's easy unless you're too weak. (It's easy unless you're not strong.) |
| Comparatives | |
| Luc en veut plus que Thierry n'en a. | Luc wants more than Thierry has. |
| Elle est moins grande que je ne le suis.* | She is not as tall as I am. |
| Ton idée est pire que la mienne ne l'était.* | Your idea is worse than mine was. |
* The le here is a neuter pronoun.
Don't get mixed up between the ne explétif and the ne littéraire - they are used with completely different verbs.
| Test on ne explétif French Negation | Sondage Utilisez-vous le ne explétif ? Votez ! |
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