LearnModule 7 · Lesson 23 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, completedUnit 5 · Ne... plus, jamais, rien, personne

Ne... que — only

Module 7 of the free French course (CEFR B1, completed), lesson 23 of 30: Ne... On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 23.

The words

French	English	Say it
je n'ai que dix euros	I have only ten euros	zhuh nay kuh dee zuh-ROH
ne... que	only	NUH kuh
ni... ni	neither... nor	nee nee
seulement	just, merely	suhl-MAH(n)
la limite	the limit	lah lee-MEET
suffisant	enough (adjective)	sew-fee-ZAH(n)
le reste	the rest	luh REHST
au moins	at least	oh MWA(n)

Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.

Hear the words

Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.

La règle · The rule

Ne... que looks like a negative and means the opposite of one: it means only. Je n'ai que dix euros — I have only ten euros. The que goes directly in front of the thing being limited, which is why moving it moves the meaning.

Et aussi · And also

Compare: je ne mange que le soir (I eat only in the evening) with je ne mange rien le soir (I eat nothing in the evening). And ne... ni... ni is neither...nor: il ne boit ni thé ni café.

Attention · Watch out

ne... que looks negative and means only: je n'ai que dix euros. The que goes right before the thing being limited, never before the verb.

Do it now — on paper

Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with je n'ai que dix euros.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 23 in Module 7 are the written half of this page.

This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.

Keep these words

Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.

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