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# 1.3 Talking about what you dislike

To talk about what you dislike, you can use the negative form of the verbs used to express what you like. To form the negative in French, use ne before the verb and pas after the verb .ne becomes n’ in front of a verb starting with a vowel sound or an ‘h’):

> Elle n’ aime pas les oignons. She doesn’t like onions.

> Il n’ est pas français. He is not French.

You can use beaucoup and du tout with je n’aime pas to say how much you dislike something. If you use these words, they go after ne ... pas in the sentence:

> Je n’ aime pas du tout la viande. I don’t like meat at all.

> Il n’ aime pas beaucoup la cuisine nord-africaine. He doesn’t like North African food very much.

Note that in informal spoken French, people often omit the ne,

> Je n’habite pas en France.→ J’habite pas en France. (I don’t live in France.)

> Elle n’aime pas les sardines. → Elle aime pas les sardines. (She doesn’t like sardines.)

## Activité 5

Claudette has just found out what her guests do not like to eat. Read her notes and identify all the words and phrases which express dislike.

Figure 3
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### Answer

You should have identified:

> n’aime pas , for Ahmed

> n’aime pas du tout , for Chrystelle

> n’aime pas beaucoup , for Benoît

> déteste , for Laura

> n’aime pas du tout , for Paul.

## Activité 6

Answer the following questions in the negative, using whole sentences and ne/n’ … pas, as shown in the example. Remember to put the negative elements in the correct place in your sentences.

> Exemple

> Il aime le poulet ? Non, il n’ aime pas le poulet.

> Vous êtes docteur ? Non, je ne suis pas docteur.

1. Vous êtes professeur ?
2. Ils viennent de Montréal ?
3. Vous aimez les huîtres ?
4. Il parle portugais ?
5. Vous avez 35 ans ?
6. Elle habite en Angleterre ?
7. Il est végétarien ?
8. Elles sont étudiantes ?

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### Answer

You should have answered as follows.

1. Non, je ne suis pas professeur.
2. Non, ils ne viennent pas de Montréal.
3. Non, je n’aime pas les huîtres.
4. Non, il ne parle pas portugais.
5. Non, je n’ai pas 35 ans.
6. Non, elle n’habite pas en Angleterre.
7. Non, il n’est pas végétarien.
8. Non, elles ne sont pas étudiantes.

Note that n’ is used instead of ‘ne’ in sentences 3, 5, 6 and 7 because the verbs in question begin with a vowel or an ‘h’.

## Activité 7

Claudette’s son, Frédéric, is a very fussy eater. There are many things he won’t eat or drink. Listen to the audio track and, putting yourself in Frédéric ’s shoes, answer all the questions in the negative following the prompts you hear.

> Exemple

> (You hear) Tu aimes le café, Fred ?

> (You hear) (Say no, you do not like coffee.)

> (You say) Non, je n’aime pas le café.

This browser does not support audio playback.

Audio 6
Transcript

## Activité 8

Claudette would like to invite you to her dinner party. Write a short message in French to tell her what kind of food you like and dislike.

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### Answer

Here is one possible answer.

> J’aime beaucoup les fruits de mer. J’aime aussi le poisson. J’adore la glace. Je n’aime pas du tout la viande rouge et je déteste les oignons. J’ai horreur des fast-foods !

Did you use a range of expressions from this section to express likes and dislikes?

◄Contents►Next: 2 Eating out in France

OpenLearn - Beginners’ French: food and drink
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