UNITÉ-4

AU TRAVAIL
 La négatif
To make a sentence negative in French, we use the words ne and pas.
Subject + ne + verbe + pas (or other word)
Example

❖ Je ne parle pas espagnol.

(I don’t speak Spanish).
❖ Il ne va pas à l’école demain.
(He’s not going to school tomorrow).

When the verb following ne starts with a vowel, ne is shortened to n’:

Example
❖ Elle n’est pas heureuse.
(She isn’t happy.)

When there’s an indefinite article (such as un or une) or a partitive article (such as du, de
la or des being used to mean “some”) after a negative, the article changes to de.
Example

❖ J’ai des livres. → Je n’ai pas de livres.

(I have some books. → I don’t have any books.)
With the passé composé,(compound tenses) the order follows this pattern:

Subject + ne + verbe auxiliaire + pas (or other word) + participe passé.

Example

To negate infinitives, both ne and pas precede the infinitive verb:

❖ Il est nécessaire de ne pas manger avant de faire du sport.

(It is necessary to not eat before doing sports).

❖ Tu m’as dit de ne pas lire ce livre.

(You told me not to read that book).

❖ Ne pas ouvrir la fenêtre.

(Don’t open the window).
French Negation Using Adverbs
ne… pas encore — not yet ne… jamais — never
Je n’ai pas encore vu ce film. Nous n’avons jamais visité la Chine.
(I have not yet seen that movie). (We’ve never visited China.)

ne… pas toujours — not always ne… nulle part — not anywhere
Il n’a pas toujours habité en France. Tu ne l’as trouvé nulle part.
(He has not always lived in France). (You didn’t find it anywhere.)

ne… pas du tout — not at all ne… plus — not anymore

Elle n’aime pas du tout le café. Ils n’écrivent plus de lettres.
(She doesn’t like coffee at all.) (They don’t write letters anymore.)
French Negation Using Pronouns

Negative pronouns can be used in place of pas in a

negative construction, but they are different because:

•They negate the pronoun that replaces the noun.

•When used after the verb, they can follow either the helper
verb or the main verb in compound tenses.

•They can be moved to the beginning of the sentence.

• ne… personne — nobody/no one, anybody/any one
Example
Let’s say I want to know if you saw Pierre at a party last week. I might ask:
— As-tu vu Pierre à la fête la semaine dernière ?
(Did you see Pierre at the party last week?)

Now, maybe you didn’t go to the party. So you might respond:

— Je n’ai vu personne.
(I didn’t see anyone.)
(In this situation, personne is acting as a pronoun because it is technically replacing the
noun Pierre.)

This negative pronoun can also come at the beginning of a sentence and be used as the subject
(the doer of the verb).
Personne n’est venu hier.
(No one came yesterday.)
ne… rien — nothing, anything

— As-tu visité l’université hier ?

(Did you visit the university yesterday?)

— Non, je n’ai rien visité.

(No, I didn’t visit anything.)

As you can see, rien comes after the main verb (visité) in the first option,
and after the helper verb (ai) in the second. Both are correct.

Like personne, rien can be used as the subject:

Rien ne peut m’arrêter.
(Nothing can stop me.)
Expressions of future time:

•day after tomorrow -après-demain

•in -dans
•in one day -dans un jour
•in four months -dans quatre mois
•next -prochain
•next week -la semaine prochaie
•next month- le mois prochain
•next year -l’année prochaine
•tomorrow -demain
•tomorrow morning -demain matin
•tomorrow afternoon -demain après-midi
•tomorrow night -demain
•until -jusqu’à
•until Tuesday- jusqu’à mardi
•within one month -d’ici un mois
French Grammar Rules Involving Professions
Use of definite and indefinite articles when describing jobs
If I’m asked specifically what someone’s job is :there’s no indefinite article un (a) like we use in English. So, the
structure is:

[Subject] + [conjugated form of être] + [profession].

Examples:
❖ ll était médecin.(He was a doctor.)
❖ Il va être médecin.(He’s going to be a doctor).

To describe what someone does, it’s:

[Subject] + [conjugated form of faire] + [description].
Example:
❖ Il fait des tonneaux.(He makes barrels.)
Number and gender rules

Usually pluralizing job titles is as simple as adding an “s”:

❖ médecin → médecins
(as in Médecins Sans Frontières, Doctors Without Borders)

But if the profession includes several words, it’s usually the noun
indicating the person that’s pluralized:

❖ femme d’affaires → femmes d’affaires

(businesswoman → businesswomen)

❖ femme au foyer → femmes au foyer

(homemaker → homemakers)
Professions ending in -eur have feminine forms ending in –trice, –eure or –euse.
❖ directeur → directrice(director, company not film)
❖ travailleur → travailleuse(worker)
❖ docteur → docteure(doctor)

In the case of –eur, you just have to memorize the transformation.

Professions ending in -ier have feminine forms ending in –ière.

❖ ouvrier → ouvrière(laborer)
❖ infirmier → infirmière(nurse)
❖ couturier → couturière
(dressmaker/seamstress)

Some words, especially those ending in “e,” use the same word for both genders.
❖ dentiste (dentist)
❖ psychologue (psychologist)
Vocabulaire:Les métiers
• Scientifique — Scientist
• Médecin — Doctor
• Chercheur — Researcher
• Infirmier / Infirmière — Nurse
• Thérapeute — Therapist
• Professionnel de la santé — Medical professional
• Psychologue — Psychologist
• Astronaute — Astronaut
• Informaticien / Informaticienne — Computer
scientist
• Physicien / Physicienne —
PhysicistComptable — Accountant
• Expert-comptable / Experte-comptable — CPA /
Chartered accountant
• Vendeur — Salesperson
• Commercial — Sales rep
• Agent immobilier / Agente immobiler —Real estate
agent
• Agent de change — Stockbroker
• Marchand / Marchande — Merchant
• Écrivain — Writer
• Journaliste — Journalist
• Artiste — Artist
• Designer graphique — Graphic designer
• Esthéticien / Esthéticienne — Beautician
• Dessinateur / Dessinatrice — Designer
• Romancier / Romancière — Novelist
• Peintre — Painte
• Interprète — Performer
• Serveur / Serveuse — Waiter / Waitress
• Caissier / Caissière — Cashier
• Gérant / Gérante — Manager
• Professeur / Enseignant / Enseignante — Te
acher
• Étudiant / Étudiante — Student
• Informaticien — IT professional
• Avocat — Lawyer
• Pilote — Pilot
Vocabulaire:Les métiers
• Femme au foyer — Housewife
• Ménager / Ménagère — Homemaker
• Charpentier / Charpentière — Carpenter
• Mécanicien / Mécanicienne — Mechanic
• Plombier / Plombière — Plumber
• Électricien / Électricienne — Electrician
• Nettoyeur / Nettoyeuse — Cleaner
• Maçon — Mason
• Architecte — Architect
• Assistant personnel — Personal assistant
• Entraîneur personnel — Personal trainer
• Architecte — Architect
• Pompier / Pompière — Firefighter
• Soldat — Soldier
• Politician / Politicienne — Politician
• Brasseur / Brasseuse (Brewer)
• Boulanger / Boulangère (Baker)
• Boucher / Bouchère (Butcher)
• Coiffeur / Coiffeuse (Hairdresser)
• Instituteur / Institutrice , Professeur — T
eacher / Professor (Teaches at the French
equivalents of middle school, high school
or college)
• Instituteur / Maître / Professeur des
écoles — Teacher (Teaches elementary age
children)
• Enseignant — To teach (used to describe
anyone who teaches at any level.)
• Ingénieur — Engineer
• Géomètre-expert — Surveyor
• Agriculteur / Agricultrice — Farmer
• Fonctionnaire — Public sector worker