Basic NegationNO!!

Setting the scene:

You are in France when a murder is committed. You were found at the scene of the crime . The police bring you in for questioning and ask you some things about yourself. Of course you’re innocent, but how can you tell

them that?

Saying “no” in French

The simple way to say “no” in French is the word “non” This functions this way:

Were you at the top of the eiffel tower November 3rd? “non”

Quelle horreur! They won’t believe you

You need to tell them that no, you are not the things they know about the suspect. They know that:

He is tall He is smart He is funny He is energetic He is patient

What we do know:

How to talk about ourselves Je suis- I am Nous sommes – we are Tu es – You (sing) are Vous etes – You (pl) are Il est – He is ils sont- They (le word

or mix) are Elle est – she is elles sont – they (la word)

are On est – we are

And we know how to say our expressions

Etre patient

Etre grand

Etre petit

Etre intelligent

Etre amusant

Etre enthousiaste

But we don’t know how to say we are not these things!!

Here it is: Ne . . . Pas

In english, you wouldn’t say “I am not not smart” or “I am not not interesting”

In french, you would

Ne . . . pas

This goes around the verb I am tall Je suis grand Je ( suis) grand – around the verb Je ne suis pas grand

Steps to doing this

1. Look at your sentence. Find the form of etre (or another verb)

2. Put parenthesies around it.

3. Place a “ne” where the ( is and a “pas” where the ) is. Erase the parenthesies

Let’s try a few in our notes

Je suis grand.

Vous etes petits

Nous sommes interessants

Ils sont egoistes

Tu es jeune.

Groups of five

Each person needs a dry erase board.

When you have them, stand in line in order of the tallest to the shortest.

The first person will be the “je, tu, etc.”

The middle will be “etre”

The last will be the adjective (enthousiaste, energique, etc)

The first of the two remaining people will be “ne,” the second will be “pas”

After each sentence, the first person will move to the back and everyone else will move up.

I am tall

I am not tall

I am shy

I am not shy

They (la) are enthousiastic

They (la) are not enthousiastic

You are brown haired

You (pl) are not brown haired

He is not short

We are not sociable

They (le) are not funny

I am not french.

She is not tall

The student is selfish

The sister is not patient

The girl is not french

Who (acts like il or elle) is not timid?

The friend (le) is not energetic

Who (works like il or elle) is not blond?