NE PAS VOULOIR
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Max K.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
NE PAS VOULOIR
Je ne veux pas parler avec elle means I REFUSE to speak with her. NE PAS VOULOIR always entails a refusal. To say I don't want to talk with her would be Je n'ai pas envie de parler avec elle. Does any one disagree with the above? This seems pretty fundamental.
This question relates to:French lesson "Ne ... point = Not (French Negations)"
Asked 7 years ago
GruffKwiziq team member
Hi Max - I'm not sure which example or test questions you're referring to as this lesson is about ne... point, nonetheless, I wouldn't interpret ne vouloir pas as a refusal. Certainly if the tone was very strong you could see it that way, but equally if the tone were mild then it could mean a mild desire not to speak. If you wanted to refuse, you'd say Je refuse de parler avec elle, as in English. Hope that helps!
Max K.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Gruff, I think you are correct. I find nothing in CNRTL to support what I was taught on more than one occasion in HS & at Purdue. Thanks for clearing this up.
Gerilyn B.Kwiziq community member
Max, perhaps you're thinking of this distinction:
Je ne voulais pas partir avec elle... [mais à fin, j'ai cédé et nous sommes partis ensemble.]
Je n'ai pas voulu partir avec elle... [et alors, nous sommes partis séparément.]
(A teacher explained to me that "Je n'a pas voulu" is almost like saying "I refused to".)
So it's a distinction that appears in past tenses, but not in the present (since there's only one present tense in French).
I believe this distinction also holds in affirmative sentences:
Je voulais partir sans elle. [but I didn't]
Je voulu partir sans elle [and so I did].
I teach French but am not a native speaker, so I can't attest to this with 100% conviction - mais j'ai des amies qui sont francophone de naissance, alors je vais leur poser la question.
À suivre...
CécileKwiziq team member
Hi Max, As a native speaker I can confirm that these are different nuances of meanings of not wanting to do something. Je ne veux pas parler avec elle = I don't want /wish to speak to her. Je n'ai pas envie de parler avec elle = I don't feel like speaking to her ( for whatever reason, not in the mood etc..) and as Gareth says - Je refuse de parler avec elle = I refuse to speak to her which is stronger and categorical , she must have upset you in some way !!! Hope this helps!
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