Placement of ne ... pas

Question

En place de: Il ne faut pas que nous mangions avec nos doigts, puisqu'on dire: I faut que nous ne mangions pas avec nos doigts?

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Brian,
Jim is correct. You are negating "falloir" (aka, "the necessity of") rather than "manger". It would sound very strange to a native French speaker to hear "il faut que nous ne mangions pas...".
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

Bonjour Brian,Interesting point!If we take I faut que  --> It must be that ..  or It is necessary that...The negation of falloir rather than manger seems to me to carry more of a forceful rebuke that the action of eating with the fingers is absolutely unacceptable   --  the negation of the verb manger seems a more milder rebuke although amounting to the same message.I see the above as being the point to keep in mindHope this helps,Bonne journéeJim