Module 09 – Les Médias et communications
Deuxième Partie: La Télévision et la radio, la grammaire
In this section:
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Nuances of Negation
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Le verbe dire
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Narrating things in the past
Nuances of Negation
Different nuances of negation are achieved by using the following negative expressions:
| ne … jamais | never, not ever |
| ne … pas encore | not yet |
| ne … rien | nothing, not anything |
| ne … personne | nobody, no one, not anybody |
| ne … plus | no more, not any longer |
| ne … pas du tout | not at all |
Note that ne becomes n’ in front of a verb starting with a vowel or a mute h.
In spoken French, the ne / n’ is sometimes dropped, achieving a more familiar tone.
The second element of the negation is usually placed right after the conjugated verb and before the object, as in this dialogue:
| C’est dimanche matin. | It is Sunday morning. |
| Tammy: Tex, tu es réveillé? | Tammy: Tex are you awake? |
| Tex: Non, je ne suis pas réveillé. | Tex: No, I am not awake. |
| Tammy: Tu dors encore? | Tammy: Are you still asleep? |
| Tex: Maintenant, je ne dors plus! Avec toi, je ne peux jamais faire la grasse matinée! | Tex: Now I am no longer alseep! With you I can never sleep in! |
| Tammy: Mais regarde, je t’apporte une tasse de café et un croissant. | Tammy: But look, I’m bringing you a cup of coffee and a croissant. |
| Tex: Non merci, je ne veux rien. Je n’ai pas du tout faim. | Tex: No thanks, I don’t want anything. I am not hungry at all. |
| Tammy: Eh bien, tu es charmant ce matin. | Tammy: Well, aren’t you charming this morning. |
Personne and rien are negative pronouns; they may function as the subject or direct object of a sentence, or as the object of a preposition. When personne is an object, it is placed after the verb or the preposition it complements:
| Ce matin, Tex ne veut voir personne. | This morning Tex does not want to see anybody. |
| Il ne veut parler à personne. | He does not want to talk to anybody. |
| Il ne pense à rien. | He’s not thinking about anything. |
Personne and rien may be used at the beginning of a sentence, as pronoun subjects, followed by ne / n’:
| Personne n’aime se lever tôt un dimanche. | Nobody likes to get up early on a Sunday. |
| Rien n’est pire.
NOTE: |
Nothing is worse. |
Some of the negations listed above can be combined, as shown in these examples:
| Tammy: Je ne te ferai plus jamais le petit-déjeuner. | Tammy: I will never make your breakfast again. |
| Tex: Mais Tammy, tu sais que je ne prends jamais rien au petit-déjeuner. | Tex: But Tammy, you know I never have anything for breakfast. |
Le verbe dire
The irregular -re verbs dire, lire, and écrire have similar conjugations. Listen carefully to the forms of these verbs in the present tense.
| dire ‘to say’ | |
| je dis | nous disons |
| tu dis | vous dites |
| il/elle/iel/on dit | ils/elles/iels disent |
| past participle : dit | |
You may have already seen the verb dire in phrases like Comment dit-on … ? (How do you say … ?)
and Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire? (What does that mean?)
Dire means ‘to say’ (to say something or to tell someone something) while parler means ‘to speak’ (to speak to someone about something, or to speak a language).
Dire is often used to start a phrase or to get someone’s attention (Dis, tu viens ?, Hey, are you coming?).
Note the vous form dites. It is unusual because it does not end in -ez.
NOTE: Dire is one of only three verbs where this is the case
(The others are être: vous êtes, and faire: vous faites).
Le récit au passé : imparfait vs passé composé
As you saw in the première partie of this module, you will alternate between using the past tense and the imparfait as you tell a story or tell what happened.
| IMPARFAIT | PASSÉ COMPOSÉ |
| -une habitude dans le passé:
Quand j’étais petit, je jouais souvent aux jeux vidéo. |
-un fait terminé dans le passé: J’ai joué un match. |
|
Description du décor: Il pleuvait beaucoup ce jour-là. |
-l’action principale: je suis tombée. |
When telling someone about something that happened to you or about a story you heard, you will use both.
Verbs like passer can be put in the passé composé or imparfait depending on the situation.
Exemple:
L’été dernier, j’ai passé trois semaines en France.
Quand j’étais petite, je passais tous les étés en France.
When talking about a movie or show you watched, follow the same rules as above.
Hier, j’ai regardé un film. C’était très drôle. Last night I watched a movie. It was funny.
Ce matin j’ai écouté une émission de radio. This morning I listened to a radio show.
Ce matin j’écoutais un podcast quand ma mère m’a appelé. This morning I was listening to a radio show when my mom called me.
