urist123

[outer cloak]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[minor elm]

Are there any situations where a native speaker wouldn’t drop the “ne” in a negation? I’ve been listening to the Paul noble French convo audio book and sometimes the ne is dropped in the examples and sometimes it isn’t. They have a system of saying the French once slowly and then repeated in a quicker more native way. But sometimes the ne is prounounced both times. Like in “on ne vit qu’one fois”

[grand bough]

you can drop it pretty much anywhere in informal/spoken french

But

With the case of "on ne vit qu'une fois", it's a common saying
While "on vit qu'une fois" technically means the same thing, it's just 'kinda sounds off'

So usually french folk doesn't drop 'ne' there, to preserve the 'rhytm' of the phrase (afaik)

[wind grotto]

imo it can be dropped

pretty sure i've heard it before

general rule is drop it or don't if you want your sentence to be clearer

[minor elm]

I assume keeping the ne would generally communicate some sort of emphasis as well?

[wind grotto]

it can, it's also more formal

[naive bramble]

it's sort of like saying "I am" fully instead of "I'm"

a bit stronger