Ces exercices vous permettent de mettre en pratique les subtilités de la négation en anglais abordées dans le cours : double négation, *negative words*, négation partielle et expressions temporelles.
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Exercice 1 — Compléter avec le bon mot négatif
Complétez chaque phrase avec le *negative word* approprié (neither, nor, barely, scarcely, hardly) pour exprimer la nuance négative correcte.
- She had ___ finished her sentence when he interrupted her.
- I could ___ believe what he was telling me — it sounded completely absurd.
- ___ the manager nor the assistant was informed about the change in policy.
- He ___ ever speaks in meetings, which makes it hard to gauge his opinion.
Correction
- She had barely finished her sentence when he interrupted her.
- I could scarcely believe what he was telling me — it sounded completely absurd.
- Neither the manager nor the assistant was informed about the change in policy.
- He hardly ever speaks in meetings, which makes it hard to gauge his opinion.
Exercice 2 — Corriger les erreurs de négation
Chaque phrase contient une erreur liée à la négation (double négation incorrecte, mauvais placement ou confusion de *negative words*). Réécrivez la phrase correctement.
- I don't know nothing about what happened during the meeting.
- Neither of the proposals were not accepted by the board.
- No sooner had she arrived when the argument started.
- He barely didn't manage to catch the last train home.
Correction
- I don't know anything about what happened during the meeting.
- Neither of the proposals was accepted by the board.
- No sooner had she arrived than the argument started.
- He barely managed to catch the last train home.
Exercice 3 — Choisir la négation exacte
Choisissez la réponse qui exprime le mieux la nuance négative requise par le contexte.
- The new regulation affects ___. No exceptions were made for any group.
- We had ___ time to review the contract before they asked us to sign it.
- ___ had the announcement been made ___ rumours began to spread across the office.
- The partial negation in 'Not all employees agree with the new policy' means ___.
Correction
- The correct answer is b) no one whatsoever, because the sentence explicitly states that no exceptions were made, implying the regulation affects no one without exception — or more precisely, no group was spared from its scope.
- The correct answer is d) scarcely any, because it conveys a nuanced near-zero quantity, implying time was critically insufficient rather than completely absent.
- The correct answer is a) No sooner / than, because the fixed expression 'no sooner… than' is used to indicate that one event immediately followed another.
- The correct answer is c) Some employees agree and some do not agree with the new policy, because 'not all' is a partial negation that excludes universal agreement without implying total disagreement.
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