French: ne…pas, ne…point

Self-tutoring about French: the tutor mentions ne…point.

The following is according to my understanding.

As a kid, I took French in school starting, perhaps, in grade 3. It was a subject in which I was somewhat disadvantaged, since a lot of people had French at home, or among relatives, whereas I didn’t.

By grade 7, perhaps, I was aware of ne…pas as negation. The ne and pas enveloped the verb, such as Elle ne parle pas for “She doesn’t talk” or “She is not talking.” It wasn’t intuitive to me, but I came to accept it.

Lately I’ve been reading French and see “ne…point” more than “ne…pas.” For instance, Il n’est point d’accord. I’d expect Il n’est pas d’accord to mean “He doesn’t agree,” but as for Il n’est point d’accord, what does it mean?

The translator suggests it also means “He doesn’t agree,” similar to Il n’est pas d’accord. Yet, why haven’t I heard of it before? I decided to look it up.

Apparently, ne…point is more formal, old-fashioned, and perhaps a little stronger negation. One sees it written, but it’s typically not spoken.

Well, this makes sense, I guess. Typically I listen to French news, but the source I’ve been reading lately, which contains ne…point, is indeed literary.

Source:

kwiziq.com

bible-en-ligne.net