Ne ... pas grand-chose = Not ... much (French Negations)

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In French, one way of making a negative statement is to use ne ... pas grand-chose.

Negative sentences with "ne ... pas grand-chose" in French

Look at these negative sentences:

Hier je n'ai pas fait grand-chose.Yesterday I didn't do much

Paula ne pense pas grand-chose de l'environnement.Paula doesn't think much of the environment

In French, to say not much, we use the expression ne/n' ... pas grand-chose (literally "no big thing").

Note that you can also use pas grand-chose on its own:

Tu as fait quoi ce weekend ? - Pas grand-chose.What did you do this weekend? - Not much.

BUT

You can never use grand-chose to express much, this exists solely as a negative expression.

 

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Examples and resources

Hier je n'ai pas fait grand-chose.Yesterday I didn't do much
Paula ne pense pas grand-chose de l'environnement.Paula doesn't think much of the environment
Tu as fait quoi ce weekend ? - Pas grand-chose.What did you do this weekend? - Not much.
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