French Negative Pronouns
Pronoms négatifs
French negative pronouns, sometimes called indefinite negative pronouns, are very similar to French negative adverbs and negative adjectives. Like them, negative pronouns are made up of two parts which surround the verb.
Negative pronouns negate, refuse, or cast doubt on the existence of the noun that they replace.
| Je n'ai vendu aucun des livres. | I haven't sold any of the books. | |
| Il n'a rien fait. | He hasn't done anything, He's done nothing. | |
| Je ne connais personne ici. | I don't know anyone here. |
The French negative pronouns are:
| ne... aucun(e) (de)* | none (of), not any (of) |
| ne... nul(le) | no one |
| ne... pas un(e) (de)* | not one (of) |
| ne... pas un(e) seul(e) (de)* | not a single one (of) |
| ne... personne | no one |
| ne... quiconque | no one (learn more) |
| ne... rien | nothing, not...anything |
Negative pronouns can be the subject, direct object, or indirect object of a sentence.
| Personne ne m'a vu. | No one saw me. | |
| Je ne vois personne. | I don't see anyone. | |
| Je ne pense à personne. | I'm not thinking about anyone. |
*These pronouns must always have an antecedent. In addition, because they express a quantity, en must be used when these pronouns are the direct object of the sentence.
| Aucun de mes amis n'est venu. | None of my friends came. | |
| Mes amis ? Aucun n'est venu. | My friends? None came. | |
| Mes amis ? Je n'en ai vu aucun. | My friends? I didn't see any of them. |
With compound verbs and dual-verb constructions, negative pronouns surround the conjugated verb.*
| Je n'ai rien fait. | I didn't do anything. |
| Je n'ai pas vu un de mes amis. | I didn't see one of my friends. |
*Except for personne and aucun, which follow the main verb.
The negative conjunction ne... ni... ni (neither...
nor) is used in exactly the same way as negative
pronouns, with ne preceding the verb and each ni preceding one of the
negated qualities, people, etc.
| Tu n'es ni sympa ni charmant. | You are neither nice nor charming. | |
| Ni Pierre ni Marie ne sont venus. | Neither Pierre nor Marie came. |
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