French Word of the Day

French Fanatic

Learn French vocabulary with one new French word a day
Search our site


Sunday, January 16, 2011

ne…que

only

Used in the present tense:
Je n‘ai que trois dollars.
I only have three dollars.

Used in the passé composé:
Je n‘ai donné que cinq euros.
I only gave five euros.

THE GRAMMAR
The ne…que construction functions much like other negative constructions we’ve reviewed this week. It is a common way for the French to express a limited amount. Today’s example sentence would be the equivalent of J’ai seulement trois dollars — simply a different way to say it. As with other constructions, ne precedes the verb. However, take note that the placement of que will vary, depending upon what is being limited. Consider two similar sentences with different meanings:

  • Il ne peut lire que le français. (He can read only French — as opposed to English or another language.)
  • Il ne peut que lire le français. (He can only read French — as opposed to writing or speaking.)

THIS WEEK
Last week, we looked at words that were all about possibilities. But let’s face it. Nothing can be possible, or positive, all the time. So, this week we’re giving everyone permission to be negative — in French! We’re looking at some of the most common negative words and sentence structures.

THE LATEST WEEKLY QUIZ FOR OUR MEMBERS
Members of our Voilà service can go straight to this week’s quiz covering the past week’s words by clicking here.

DON’T MISS OUT ON THE BENEFITS OF A VOILA! MEMBERSHIP
Join Voilà for only 3.95 per month to access online practice quizzes like our special 2010 Year in Review Quiz and our archives by subject.

Take our Visitors Preview to learn more.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY!


Vocabulary Section: Negatives, Word of the Day