Beginning French

[muckefuck]

Some intense dreams last night, including a torrid clandestine affair with a renowned gay scholar. One minute we were making out in his car during the pouring rain, the next we were sitting with his friends calmly chatting at a sidewalk café. I remarked upon a French textbook sitting in front of one and she reminded me that she was attempting to learn the language. "T'as un chameau?" I asked her by way of practice conversation. When she didn't know what to say to that, I suggested, "Non, c'est trop grand. Il y a pas de place pour ça dans mon appartement."

Comments

[owenthomas.livejournal.com]

George Chauncey?

[strongaxe.livejournal.com]

For some reason, hearing French negatives without "ne" reminds me of nails on chalkboard, even though I know that it seems to be commonplace. I always thought it was slang, however. I would have expected it to be "Il n'y a pas de place...". Then again, I only had several years of classroom French, and almost never really had to experience it in real-life situations.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

I'm just the opposite: negatives with ne sound stilted to me, like speaking English without contracting not. I can't really imagine saying "Il y n'a pas"; for me, it comes out "ya pas".

[strongaxe.livejournal.com]

"Il y n'a pas" sounds wrong too - I always thought it should be "Il n'y a pas".