Breakdown of Pour une tenue décontractée, nous ne choisissons ni le tissu rayé ni le coton uni.
un
a / an (masculine)
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
pour
for
ne
not (used before the verb)
choisir
to choose
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
le tissu
the fabric / the cloth
ni
nor
le coton
the cotton
la tenue
the outfit
uni
plain
rayé
striped
décontracté
casual
Questions & Answers about Pour une tenue décontractée, nous ne choisissons ni le tissu rayé ni le coton uni.
Why is there no pas in this negative sentence?
The structure ne... ni... ni... translates to "neither... nor...". Just like ne... jamais (never) or ne... plus (no longer), the ni... ni... part completely replaces pas. You place ne before the conjugated verb, and ni before each of the options you are rejecting.
Why do we keep the article le in ni le tissu? Doesn't negation usually change articles to de?
Great observation! Definite articles (le, la, les) always stay the same in negative sentences, including with ni... ni.... However, if the sentence used indefinite or partitive articles (un, une, des, du, de la), they would completely disappear after ni. For example, "I choose neither a dress nor a skirt" would just be Je ne choisis ni robe ni jupe.
Why is there an extra e at the end of décontractée?
Why do the adjectives rayé and uni come after the nouns they describe?
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