French language Q&A Forum
Questions answered by our learning community with help from expert French teachers
14,818 questions • 32,114 answers • 987,988 learners
Questions answered by our learning community with help from expert French teachers
14,818 questions • 32,114 answers • 987,988 learners
This is a contribution to help others who might find this confusing:
In French, there are certain sentence constructions or even verbs that could be made negative with just the addition of "ne". The addition of "pas" and the likes isn't necessary. This concept is called "Ne littéraire".
Clauses containing "si" are one of those instances where the Ne littéraire could be used.
For further study of the concept, check: https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/ne-litteraire/
Are there verbs that don't follow the structured outline noted here - 'stem' from future simple conjugation, 'endings' from past imperfect conjugation? I think that I have not yet (early days) come across a verb that does not conjugate in the conditional in accordance with these simple 'rules' and having this clarified could/should/would make it much easier to remember. Even for irregular verbs it seems to me that if you know the imparfait and the future simple (both of which are also pretty consistent with 'endings' but not the stems) you have all you need to know the conditional.
In the sentence "C'est la dernière fois que je t'amène avec moi !" Would "emmener" (= to take a person) be a better choice of verb?
Find your French level for FREE
And get your personalised Study Plan to improve it
Find your French level