Living Minimally
If you want to live a simple (simple) life, you might consider adopting a minimaliste (minimalist) lifestyle.
| A minimalist life is very simple. | Une vie minimaliste est très simple. |
Expressing "Only" with ne... que
To say "only" or "nothing but," French uses the restrictive structure ne... que. Place ne before the conjugated verb and que directly before the word being restricted.
| He is minimalist, he only owns useful things. | Il est minimaliste, il ne possède que des choses utiles. |
Remember that ne and que contract to n' and qu' before a vowel or silent h:
| We only accumulate clutter in this house. | Nous n'accumulons que du bazar dans cette maison. |
Decluttering Vocabulary
As you organize, you will need verbs to talk about managing your space, such as se débarrasser de (to get rid of). Notice how ne... que is used here to show she only keeps her clothes:
| She gets rid of the clutter, she only keeps her clothes. | Elle se débarrasse du bazar, elle ne garde que ses vêtements. |
You might also want to alléger (lighten) spaces and avoid items that encombrent (clutter) your home.
| To lighten the apartment, do not accumulate objects that clutter. | Pour alléger l'appartement, n'accumulez pas d'objets qui encombrent. |
Placing que Before Prepositions and Numbers
The que in ne... que is very flexible. Place it right before a preposition (like pour) to express doing something only for a specific reason:
| They only consume to accumulate. | Ils ne consomment que pour accumuler. |
It can also be placed directly before a number to restrict a quantity:
| We only have three possessions. | Nous n'avons que trois possessions. |