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New
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Year 10
Edexcel

J'ai acheté : negation

I can use negative structures in a range of tenses, when discussing holidays, to add complexity to my writing and speaking.

icon-background-square
New
New
Year 10
Edexcel

J'ai acheté : negation

I can use negative structures in a range of tenses, when discussing holidays, to add complexity to my writing and speaking.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Negation in French is two elements e.g. ne … pas around the main verb expressing negative meaning.
  2. With ne … pas, ne … jamais and ne … rien in the past, put auxiliary verb (avoir or être) between ne and pas/jamais/rien.
  3. ‘Un’, ‘une’, ‘du’, ‘de la’ and ‘des’ change to ‘de’ after a negative e.g. Je ne mange pas de viande.
  4. In formal speech, liaison can often be heard after negative structures ne … pas, ne … plus, and ne … jamais.
  5. Using a range of negative structures with a range of tenses adds complexity to your writing.

Keywords

  • Negation - makes a word, phrase or sentence negative, typically using words like ‘not’ in English, or the two elements ne … pas in French

Common misconception

When changing a positive to a negative statement, words like 'un', 'une', 'du', 'de la' and 'des' stay the same, e.g. 'je mange du gateau' - 'je ne mange pas du gâteau'.

When making a sentence negative, 'un', 'une', 'du', 'de la' and 'des' change to 'de', e.g. 'je mange du gâteau' - 'je ne mange pas de gâteau'.


To help you plan your year 10 french lesson on: J'ai acheté : negation, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Task B2 has two version, Option 1, which is aimed at the majority of pupils, and Option 2, which is aimed at students who may need a more structured approach to the task.
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Equipment

Mini whiteboard and pen, plus pen and paper are useful, if available.

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
How do you form a basic negative sentence in French?
By placing 'pas' after the verb.
By placing 'ne' before the verb.
Correct answer: By placing 'ne...pas' around the conjugated verb.
By adding 'non' to the end of the sentence
Q2.
Place the words in the correct order to form the negative perfect tense. n' / ai / téléchargé/ pas / je
1 - je
2 - n'
3 - ai
4 - pas
5 - téléchargé
Q3.
Which of the following is the correct negative form of this sentence? 'Je mange une pomme.'
Je ne mange pas une pomme.
Correct answer: Je ne mange pas de pomme.
Je ne mange pas la pomme.
Je ne mange pas des pommes.
Q4.
Match the French negative phrase with its English equivalent:
Correct Answer:ne ...pas,not
tick

not

Correct Answer:ne ...plus,no longer
tick

no longer

Correct Answer:ne ...jamais,never
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never

Q5.
Which of the following sentences correctly uses 'ne ...plus'?
Je ne plus joue.
Correct answer: Je ne joue plus.
Je plus ne joue.
Je joue ne plus.
Q6.
Which of the following correctly completes the sentence: 'Je ______ jamais visité Paris.' (I have never visited Paris.)
ne ai
Correct answer: n'ai
ne a
ai ne

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following is a correct negative sentence?
Correct answer: il ne mange pas
il ne pas mange
il pas ne mange
il mange ne pas
Q2.
Put the following words in the correct order to form a negative sentence:
1 - je
2 - ne
3 - mange
4 - pas
Q3.
Which of the following structures are correct negatives?
pas … ne
Correct answer: ne … pas
Correct answer: ne … jamais
jamais … ne
Q4.
Change the following sentence to negative: 'J'ai mangé une pomme.' (I ate an apple.)
Correct Answer: Je n'ai pas mangé de pomme.
Q5.
Match the positive sentence with its correct negative form:
Correct Answer:J'ai des amis.,Je n'ai pas d’amis.
tick

Je n'ai pas d’amis.

Correct Answer:Il a du pain.,Il n'a pas de pain.
tick

Il n'a pas de pain.

Correct Answer:Elle a une voiture.,Elle n'a pas de voiture.
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Elle n'a pas de voiture.

Q6.
Put the following words in the correct order to form a negative sentence in the near future tense ('aller + infinitive'):
1 - mes
2 - parents
3 - ne
4 - vont
5 - pas
6 - oublier
7 - les passeports

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