Could ne explétif be optional?

Julia K.C1Kwiziq community member

Considering the general tendency to drop ne in spoken French, could it also be omitted in the examples used in the lesson? For example, would the sentence « Tu as peur qu’il parte » still make sense? Is it grammatically incorrect without the ne or does its meaning change when ne is dropped?

This question relates to:French lesson "What is the ne explétif and when to use it in French"

Asked 8 months ago

Like0Answer1

CélineKwiziq Native French TeacherCorrect answer

Bonjour Julia,

Dropping the "ne" explétif does not change the meaning of the sentence (it is still correct - but specifically used in informal French, i.e. an everyday conversation). However, when writing in French (i.e. formal French), you should use the "ne" explétif.

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Like28 months ago

Julia K. asked:

Could ne explétif be optional?

Considering the general tendency to drop ne in spoken French, could it also be omitted in the examples used in the lesson? For example, would the sentence « Tu as peur qu’il parte » still make sense? Is it grammatically incorrect without the ne or does its meaning change when ne is dropped?

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