"...parce que rien ne m'était familier."

Thalia C.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Could you please explain the reason for the inversion of the negative "ne...rien" in this sentence? Thank you.

Asked 5 years ago

Chris W.C1Kwiziq Q&A super contributorCorrect answer

In French, the subject comes before the verb. In this sentence, rien is the subject and is pulled in front of était.

Like15 years ago

Thalia C.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Thank you, Chris! That makes sense. :-)

Like05 years ago

Maarten K.C1Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

'rien ne' means nothing - as a subject. ('personne ne' means no-one/nobody as a subject). Personne ne ..., rien ne ... = No one, nothing (negation) in French

Like25 years ago

Could you please explain the reason for the inversion of the negative "ne...rien" in this sentence? Thank you.

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