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Negative Subject Pronouns: personne ne, rien ne

HigherHigher tier onlyAQA

Master Negative Subject Pronouns: personne ne, rien ne for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Higher tier exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). Personne ne and rien ne mean nobody and nothing as the subject of a verb.

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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.

This is a Higher tier only topic, so there's no Foundation paper — only the Higher worksheet and mark scheme below.

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WorksheetHigher · PDFMark SchemeHigher · PDF

Topic overview

Personne and rien can act as subjects, and when they do they take ne before the verb. This is a Higher-only topic.

Personne ne parle means nobody is speaking. Rien ne marche means nothing works. The word order is the opposite of what students expect — the negative word comes first, then ne, then the verb, and there is no pas at all.

Adding pas would be wrong, exactly as with aucun. The verb also stays singular, because personne and rien are singular even though they refer to no people or things. And in the perfect tense, personne goes after the past participle when it is an object, but stays first when it is the subject.

Revision notes

As subjects

Personne ne parle — nobody is speaking. Rien ne marche — nothing works.

The negative word comes first, then ne, then the verb. There is no pas. This word order is the reverse of the usual ne...pas structure.

No pas

Personne and rien replace pas rather than joining it.

Personne ne parle pas would be wrong. This is the same rule as aucun — the negative word does the job pas would otherwise do.

As objects

When they are objects, they come after the verb: je ne vois personne, je ne fais rien.

In the perfect tense, rien goes before the past participle — je n'ai rien fait — but personne goes after it: je n'ai vu personne.

Key points

  • Personne ne parle means nobody is speaking.
  • Rien ne marche means nothing works.
  • The negative word comes first as a subject.
  • Ne is still required.
  • Pas is never added.
  • The verb stays singular.

Worked examples

Example 1

Translate: nobody is speaking. [2 marks]

Working

Personne ne parleput personne first, followed by ne and the verb
No pas is added, because personne replaces itexplain the missing pas

Example 2

Translate: nothing works. [2 marks]

Working

Rien ne marcheput rien first, followed by ne and the verb
The verb stays singular, because rien is singularexplain the verb form

Example 3

Explain the difference in word order between je ne vois personne and personne ne parle. [2 marks]

Working

In je ne vois personne, personne is the object and comes after the verbexplain the object position
In personne ne parle, personne is the subject and comes first, before neexplain the subject position

Common mistakes

  • Adding pas.

    Personne and rien replace it.

  • Omitting ne.

    It is still required before the verb.

  • Making the verb plural.

    Personne and rien are singular.

  • Putting the subject form after the verb.

    As a subject it comes first.

Exam tips

  • Put personne or rien first when it is the subject.
  • Keep ne but never add pas.
  • Keep the verb singular.
  • Remember this is a Higher-only topic.

Key terms

Personne
Nobody, taking ne and no pas.
Rien
Nothing, taking ne and no pas.
Subject position
Coming first, before ne and the verb.
Object position
Coming after the verb.

Related topics

Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.