Learn French: Nous n'avons que trois possessions. - We only have three possessions.

Nous n'avons que trois possessions.

We only have three possessions.

Breakdown of Nous n'avons que trois possessions.

nous

we / us (object pronoun)

avoir

to have

not (used before the verb)

trois

three

Questions & Answers about Nous n'avons que trois possessions.

Why is there a n' here if the sentence means 'only' and not 'not'?

In French, the structure ne... que translates to 'only'. Even though it uses ne (which becomes n' before a vowel), it is a restriction rather than a true negative. You can think of it as literally meaning 'we have nothing other than', which translates smoothly to 'we only have'.

Does que always go right before the number?

The word que is placed immediately before the specific element that is being limited. Because the sentence restricts the number to exactly three, que goes right before trois possessions.

Could I use seulement instead of ne... que to say 'only' in this sentence?

Yes, you could also say Nous avons seulement trois possessions. Both mean the exact same thing, but ne... que is incredibly common in everyday French, so it is important to recognize it without confusing it for a negative statement.

Why is it n'avons instead of ne avons?

The word ne drops its e and becomes n' whenever the following word starts with a vowel or a silent h. Since avons starts with an a, you must make this contraction, which is known as elision.