Plus de = no more?

Drew B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Plus de = no more?

"Plus de royauté, etc." Why does that mean "no more," w/out any grammatical indicator of negation, like "ne plus?"

Asked 5 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Drew,

Just as you can say -

'pas de' + noun

as in: 

Pas de pain, pas d'argent, pas de mal ( no bread, no money, no harm)

You can use 'plus de' + noun to indicate no more -

...plus de royauté ... plus de privilèges no more monarchy...no more privileges.

Hope this helps!

Lorraine B.A1Kwiziq community member

My understanding: In speech, if you hear /ploos/, it means “more”. If you hear /ploo/, depending on context and the words following, it can mean “no more”. “Plus de”, meaning “no more” is really part of the “ne…plus” construction, but without a verb to negate (like at the beginning of a sentence, or as in the above transcript), the “ne”  may be dropped. Et voilà, “Plus de royauté” means “No more royalty”! Another example: “Je veux plus de pain, mais lui non!  Alors…plus de pain pour lui!”

Plus de = no more?

"Plus de royauté, etc." Why does that mean "no more," w/out any grammatical indicator of negation, like "ne plus?"

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