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The use of 'ne' alone
When does one use 'ne' alone (i.e. without 'pas' or another negative word)? And what does it mean?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Christine on
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Hi,
You can use it without a negative word and get the same negative meaning, for example Je ne peux vous répondre (I can't answer you), but it's rather old-fashioned, or at least very formal.
It can also be exclusive: Je ne peux voir que lui (I can see only him).
Or there is the ne explétif, rather formal too, used in a sentence like Je crains qu'il ne soit mort (I fear he's dead). As I can use it, but not explain it very well, here's a link: http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/negation_form_2.htm
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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on
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Christine: I would probably treat "ne ... que" as being a separate case rather than an example of an 'isolated' ne.
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True. I included it because, since que isn't a negative word, I thought it might be relevant, even if ne isn't isolated in this case.
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OK, I see your viewpoint. For what it's worth, in much of the English-speaking literature on French, que is actually treated as a negative.
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In meaning, ne when used on its own it is usually effectively the same as using ne ... pas. Stylistically, it is a somewhat more formal alternative.
In this case, it tends to be used (note that these are broadly cases where 'formal language' is being used from the outset):
- with a few verbs, such as oser and cesser;
- when the conditional of savoir is used to mean pouvoir: je ne saurais te dire = je ne pourrais pas te dire
- in negative rhetorical questions: Qui ne souhaite apprendre la langue française?
- in a negative relative clause where the main clause is already in the negative (or implies a negative): N'y a-t-il personne qui ne refuse de m'aider? = Is there nobody who will not refuse to help me?
In these casess, ne actually holds its negative value. You will also find ne used as a so-called "expletive ne" where it is conventionally inserted but serves no actual purpose. For example, it is common with avant que and à moins que. So in this case, the sentence means the same whether or not you insert ne:
Viens demain, à moins que tu (ne) préfères venir samedi.
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Permalink Reply by Lee Martin on -
The popular descriptive phrase comes to mind: S/He demonstrates a certain "je-ne-sais-quoi."
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Thank you! Yes, I completely forgot to mention that ne on its own is also used in these 'interpolated' indirect questions, such as:
Je l'ai fait je ne sais combien de fois.
"I've done it I don't know how many times"
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P.S. I've only read the abstract and haven't thought about it terribly much, but if you're interested in taking this further, you may be interested in this paper precisely on the distinction between "ne" on its own vs "ne...pas" and other negatives:
Schapansky, N. (2002), "The syntax of negation in French: contrarietyversuscontradiction"
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0024384102000475
The author's essential argument is that "ne" on its own marks a type of negative that 'weakens' an assertion, whereas other negatives contradict the assertion.
If I get chance to read it at some point, then I'll try and write something up for the site.
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