Nous n'achetons jamais de viande au marché.

We never buy meat at the market.

Breakdown of Nous n'achetons jamais de viande au marché.

• nous: we
• le marché: the market
• acheter: to buy
• ne ... jamais: never
• la viande: the meat
• de: some

Questions & Answers about Nous n'achetons jamais de viande au marché.

Why do we use “n’” instead of “ne” in this sentence?

Because ne changes to n’ before a verb that starts with a vowel or a silent “h.” In n’achetons, the “a” in achetons triggers this elision.

Why is there no “pas” after “n’achetons” for the negative form?

In French, jamais (“never”) can replace pas to form a negative. So when you use jamais, you drop pas, and the sentence still remains negative: Nous n’achetons jamais…

Why do we write “de viande” instead of “de la viande” here?

After a negative phrase in French (like n’achetons jamais), any indefinite or partitive article (un, une, des, du, de la, de l’) turns into de (or d’ if followed by a vowel). That’s why it becomes de viande instead of de la viande.

What is the function of “jamais” and where should it be placed in the sentence?

Jamais is placed right after the conjugated verb, replacing pas to indicate “never.” The structure remains ne + verb + jamais, so jamais follows achetons.

Why is it “au marché” rather than “à le marché”?

In French, à + le automatically contracts to au. So à le marché becomes au marché (meaning “at the market” or “to the market”).