"Anyone" in Negation

Aashpreet K.A1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

"Anyone" in Negation

So, as the rule in this lesson states that in Negation we use Ne...Personne instead of N'importe qui for saying 'anyone' ...so, should it be? - 

- Elle ne fait personne confiance. [She does not trust anyone.] Because the negation surrounds the main conjugated verb?

Asked 7 months ago
Christian H.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Correct, you need to use "personne" in this case but you have to change the sentence slightly for it to be correct (it is "faire confiance à q.n.")

"Elle ne fait confiance à personne"

"Because the negation surrounds the main conjugated verb?": You cannot just use "personne" just in place of "pas", if that is what you mean.

https://french.kwiziq.comNe ... personne = No one/nobody (French Negations)

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Just to complement Christian's answer:

Personne and rien are not merely negation particles they also function as pronouns and hence can replace either the subject, the direct object or an indirect object:

Personne ne m'aime! -- Nobody loves me! (subject)
Je n'aime personne! -- I love nobody (direct object)
Tu ne parles à personne. -- You don't talk to anybody (indirect object)

Aashpreet K.A1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Thanks a lot for these explanations, Christian and Chris!

Aashpreet K. asked:

"Anyone" in Negation

So, as the rule in this lesson states that in Negation we use Ne...Personne instead of N'importe qui for saying 'anyone' ...so, should it be? - 

- Elle ne fait personne confiance. [She does not trust anyone.] Because the negation surrounds the main conjugated verb?

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