📖LearnModule 7 · Lesson 25 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, completedUnit 5 · Ne... plus, jamais, rien, personne
Negation in the past
Module 7 of the free French course (CEFR B1, completed), lesson 25 of 30: In the passé composé the sandwich closes around the HELPER. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 25.
The words
French
English
Say it
je n'ai pas mangé
I did not eat
zhuh nay pah mah(n)-ZHAY
nous n'avons rien dit
we said nothing
noo nah-voh(n) RYA(n) DEE
je n'ai vu personne
I saw nobody
zhuh nay vew pehr-SUN
il n'est allé nulle part
he went nowhere
eel neh tah-lay newl PAHR
l'auxiliairemasculine — the article elides to l'
the helper verb
lok-see-LYEHR
le participe
the participle
luh pahr-tee-SEEP
l'exceptionfeminine — the article elides to l'
the exception
lek-sehp-SYOH(n)
à voix haute
out loud
ah vwah OHT
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
In the passé composé the sandwich closes around the HELPER, not the participle: je n'ai pas mangé, il n'est jamais venu, nous n'avons rien dit. The two pieces hug avoir or être and the participle stands outside.
Et aussi · And also
Two exceptions earn their place: personne and nulle part go AFTER the participle. Je n'ai vu personne. Il n'est allé nulle part. Say those two aloud until they sound normal, because the rule will not warn you.
Attention · Watch out
personne and nulle part go AFTER the participle: je n'ai vu personne, il n'est allé nulle part. rien and jamais go before it: je n'ai rien vu.
vouloir, passé composé — the table
je ai voulu · tu as voulu · il/elle a voulu · nous avons voulu · vous avez voulu · ils/elles ont voulu
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 pas mangé.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out vouloir, passé composé in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
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.