however should it no be:
Rien n'est pas gratuit
Where is the pas?
Look at these four cases:
Notice that adjectives (describing words) following rien (nothing), personne (nobody), tout le monde (everybody), quelqu'un (someone), are always in the masculine form, even if what they describe is feminine.
BUT Une personne is feminine, so Une personne est heureuse.
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Q&A Forum 4 questions, 6 answers
SamKwiziq community member
Rien n'est gratuit vs Rien n'est pas gratuit?
Rien n'est gratuit is Nothing is free according to the text
Asked 1 month ago
Sam asked:View original
Rien n'est gratuit vs Rien n'est pas gratuit?
Rien n'est gratuit is Nothing is free according to the text
however should it no be:
Rien n'est pas gratuit
Where is the pas?
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Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
plural for personne...not plural for tout le monde?
Bonjour. In the above examples, I see personne n'est heureux. The lesson does not talk about plurality I do not think.
In the quiz, now I can't remember, but I may or may not have used a singular masculine word. Do you have any extra information as plurality in this lesson? Merci.
Asked 3 months ago
Hi robin,
There is no plural for ‘rien’ , ‘personne’ , ‘tout le monde’ , you are probably thinking of words like aucun, certain which agree in gender and number ?
Quelqu’un however can become quelques-uns and in this case you could have a plural -
Quelques-uns vont venir vous voir = A few people are going to come to see you
Hope this helps!
Robin asked:View original
plural for personne...not plural for tout le monde?
Bonjour. In the above examples, I see personne n'est heureux. The lesson does not talk about plurality I do not think.
In the quiz, now I can't remember, but I may or may not have used a singular masculine word. Do you have any extra information as plurality in this lesson? Merci.
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BlakeKwiziq community member
How about plurality?
Does this lesson imply anything about the singularity/plurality of adjectives following these pronouns?
Asked 1 year ago
Blake asked:View original
How about plurality?
Does this lesson imply anything about the singularity/plurality of adjectives following these pronouns?
Don't have an account yet? Join today
JenniferKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
tout le monde est nouveau? Why not nouvel
I seem to vaguely remember that there are two ways of talking about new, depending on how new the object is. Here I used nouvel but the correct answer was nouvel? Can anyone enlighten me?
Asked 1 year ago
GruffKwiziq team member
Hi Jennifer, nouvel is used for the masculine form only when it's followed by a vowel or mute h.
More info here:
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/beau-nouveau-vieux-fou-mou-two-masculine-and-one-feminine-form
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
As Gruff said, "nouvel" is used for the male form when it starts with a vowel or silent h. When you talk about the two forms of "new" you probably mean nouveau/nouvelle vs. neuf/neuve.
"Ma nouvelle voiture" is a car that is new to you but not newly made.
"Ma voiture neuve" is a car hot off the assembly line.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Jennifer asked:View original
tout le monde est nouveau? Why not nouvel
I seem to vaguely remember that there are two ways of talking about new, depending on how new the object is. Here I used nouvel but the correct answer was nouvel? Can anyone enlighten me?
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