Expressing Quantity in French - Zero, None - Pas De

Expressing Quantity in French - Zero, None - Pas De Theres a lot to keep in mind when expressing quantities in French. We have  studied  how to express unspecific quantities, du, de la, de l, des, then how to express specific quantities, numbers and expressions of quantity, so now for the last part: when there is nothing, zero, zip, not any! 1 - The Quantity Is None Aha! I bet you didnt think about that one! Well, zero is also a quantity. Which means when you say I dont have money (join the club), you are using a quantity. You could be saying I dont have any money, but the any is often left out in everyday speech.   So, if you wanted to actually say zero, well thats easy, its a number: - jai zà ©ro chat (I have zero cat). But where it gets complicated is when you use a negative. I dont have (any) cat.   In French, wed say something like I dont have none of cat. Please, dont think of it this way, because youd never say that in English, so translating doesnt work. I am just saying it to explain, but its more logical to think of it as pas being a quantity, therefore followed by de/d in French. Je nai pas de chat. (I dont have any cat)Je nai pas de fille. (I dont have a daughter)Je nai pas de lait. (I dont have milk)Je nai pas denfants (I dont have children) And of course, there is a main exception. This rule doesnt apply when your verb is à ªtre (to be). So with à ªtre in the negative, you say the same thing as in the affirmative. Je suis une fille. Je ne suis pas une fille. (I am a girl. I am not a girl). 2 - Adjectives of Quantity Are Not Followed by De/d Aucun/e/s and plusieur/s are adjectives. They dont need an article. Jai plusieurs chats - I have several cats.Je nai aucun ami - I have no friend, I dont have a single friend, I dont have any friend.. 3 - To Recap Some things are easy to quantify: one apple. It’s a whole apple. You usually buy, eat, need one, 2, 3 apples.  But you may decide to be vague, and say â€Å"des pommes† more than one, but I don’t know exactly how many. Now, some things are less easily quantifiable†¦ You don’t buy â€Å"one rice†. You buy either â€Å"one kilo of rice† (a kilo of, an expression of quantity), or â€Å"some rice† (unspecific quantity of an item which is not easily quantifiable). So you need to ask yourself: Am I talking about... A very specific  quantity (a number, or an expression of quantity : une pomme, 5 pommes, un kilo de pommes, une bouteille deau†¦).An unspecified quantity of an item (du vin), or an unspecified quantity of something that you cannot quantify easily (du riz, de la patience)More than one of an item, but a vague plural quantity (des pommes)No item at all (pas de pomme) This is a lot to take in. Read these  lessons over a couple of times and even read it out-loud so you really take the time to understand and process everything.