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Would or would not?

Andrea N.B2Kwiziq community member

Would or would not?

In the short quiz, the sentence was  'Nous craignons qu'il  ne change d'avis". The correct answer given was : 'We fear that he would change his mind'. Because of the 'ne', should the answer be " We fear that he would NOT change his mind?  I also want to know whether 'change d'avis' is an expression?     Thanks.

This question relates to:French lesson "Conjugate verbs in -aindre/-eindre/-oindre in the present tense in French (Le Présent)"
Asked 5 years ago
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Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

The "ne" in that sentence is purely stylistic and does not mean a negation. It is called "ne-explétif" and there are lessons on that topic on kwiziq at a higher level.

The expression is changer d'avis -- to change one's mind. Change is the subjunctive present of the verb changer.

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Jean W.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Bonjour Andrea,

 The clue that you are seeing the ne-expletif as Chris mentioned is that the "pas" is absent. For it to be a negative statement, there would have been a ne ... pas. 

Like25 years ago
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Andrea N. asked:View original

Would or would not?

In the short quiz, the sentence was  'Nous craignons qu'il  ne change d'avis". The correct answer given was : 'We fear that he would change his mind'. Because of the 'ne', should the answer be " We fear that he would NOT change his mind?  I also want to know whether 'change d'avis' is an expression?     Thanks.

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