28.18: Part 2: 17 DECLARATIVE SENTENCES

Part 2: The Order of Major Components in the Three Basic Sentence Types

17 DECLARATIVE SENTENCES

17.1 Affirmative

The standard word order of affirmative declarative sentences in French is very close to that of English and should present no difficulties to the student. It is SUBJECT + VERB + COMPLEMENT. Complement is a cover term for direct objects, indirect objects, infinitive constructions, and other more complex forms that "complete" the sense of the verb: all of these function much as they do in English.

Following are some examples, with the subject printed in capital letters, the verb underlined, and the complement with no marking.

DAVID a tué Goliath.	David killed Goliath.
LES ENFANTS mangeaient des bonbons.	The children were eating candy.
ELLE est allée au théâtre.	She went to the theater.

As you've seen already, there is one major exception to the basic word order rule, and that is when the direct or indirect object is a personal pronoun, or when there is a pronominal adverb (y, or en). As explained in more detail in 1.1 and 1.3, these forms regularly precede the verb of which they are the complement. (More examples are given in 1.1 and 1.3.)

DAVID l'a tué.

LES ENFANTS en mangeaient.

ELLE y est allée.

17.2 Negative

The simple negative (equivalent to "does not," "will not," "isn't," etc.) poses no problems once we accept the notion of a "double negative" (both ne and pas) as being correct. Other negatives (equivalent of "never," "no longer," "nobody," "nothing") are a bit more complex, but not very difficult.

17.2.1 Simple Negative

The simple negative is indicated by the use of pas after the verb. As for all negatives, the entire verb phrase (or predicate) is preceded by ne. In most cases, that means ne... pas "surrounds" the verb, and that is the way the construction is often described.

Note that when we say "pas follows the verb," we are referring (1) to the verb whose action/condition it negates, and (2) to the conjugated part of a compound verb construction. Consider the following examples:

Elle n'est pas malade.

She isn't sick.

(Est is the only verb in this sentence; it is a conjugated form, specifically the third singular present indicative. Pas follows it.)

Nous ne ferons pas nos devoirs.

We won't do our homework.

(Ferons is the only verb in this sentence; it is a conjugated form, specifically the first plural future. Pas follows it.)

Je ne veux pas aller au cinéma.

I don't want to go to the movies.

(Veux and aller are both verbs, but it's the "wanting" that the speaker is denying/negating, not the "going". Also note that veux is a conjugated form, while aller is not. Pas follows veux.)

Il a décidé de ne pas aller au cinéma.

He decided not to go to the movies.

(In contrast to the preceding sentence, in this one it is the "going" (aller) that is negated. Simple negation of infinitives is accomplished by placing ne pas, as one unit in front of the infinitive.)

Ils n'ont pas vu ce film.

They didn't see this film.

(Ont... vu is one verb, in two parts. In this case, the parts are separated by pas, as they are sometimes separated by other negatives and some adverbs. Ont is the conjugated part of the compound verb and therefore, according to the rule, pas follows it.)

17.2.2 Complex Negative

By "complex" we don't mean to imply that these words and constructions are especially complicated. They're not. It's simply that it's possible in French, as in English, to express more than simple negation: one can say "never," "no longer," "no one," "nothing," etc., and various combinations of those negative concepts.

The most important thing to remember is that, as soon as you introduce one of the other negatives, you can add others, but you must eliminate pas.

We restate: You cannot have pas with the other negatives. (There is an exception, but it is a low-frequency construction and we'll not deal with it at this level.)

Like interrogative words, these negatives have functions in addition to negation (they're adverbs or noun-like forms). In most cases, they take their position in the sentence according to their syntactic function. Here are some examples, with comments. You'll note that, as always, the "negative marker" ne precedes the entire verb phrase/predicate.

a. Fully Negative Constructions

Personne ne vient.

No one is coming.

(Personne is the subject as well as being a negative word. Its function as subject determines its position in the sentence: compare "Jean ne vient pas.")

Je n'ai vu personne.

I saw no one.

(Personne is the direct object. It follows the whole verb: same position as any direct object noun. Compare "Je n'ai pas vu mon ami.")

Rien n'est arrivé.

Nothing happened.

(Rien is the subject, thus in first position.)

Je n'ai rien vu.

I saw nothing.

(A minor apparent exception. Rien could certainly be called the direct object: compare "Je n'ai vu personne," "J'ai vu le monument." However, rien does regularly go after the auxiliary, the conjugated form of the verb in a compound verb form. In other words, it acts more like pas or the adverbial negatives.)

Ils ne viendront plus.	They won't come anymore.
Il n'a jamais étudié le français.	He never studied French.
Je ne le vois jamais plus.	I never see him anymore.

(All three of the above are "adverbial" negatives. All come after the conjugated form of the verb. As you see in the last example, it is possible to use more than one at a time.)

b. The "Partially'' Negative or "Privative'' Construction

Unlike all of the above, the construction ne... que is used to negate everything except the item that is singled out by the que. In all other ways, it works like a complex negative.

Je n'ai que trois amis.	I have only three friends.
Il ne veut que travailler.	He only wants to work.
Il n'a jamais fait que cela.	He never did anything but that.