The Correct Use of Jamais in French

Many people who learn French know that its a language of tricky spellings. Jamais  is one of those words. It sometimes poses problems to the language learners because you can easily confuse it with jaimais, which means something completely different. Jaimais,  spelled with the added apostrophe and i, means I loved, or I was loving/liking/enjoying and comes from the  verb aimer. Whereas jamais often means never. You can imagine the confusion if instead of telling someone you loved them, you tell them never. Spelling can be really crucial. Regarding the meanings of jamais, there are actually a few different uses of this word. When jamais takes the place of pas in a negation, it means, never. Isolated, jamais also takes on its original meaning of never. However, depending on the context and the structure of the sentence, jamais can also become an adverb and mean either ever or never. See below to learn how to distinguish the different meanings of jamais. Ne...Jamais In a negative construction, where instead of ne ... pas, you will find ne...jamais, the meaning changes from not to never. Je ne ferais pas à §a. I wouldnt do that.Je ne ferais jamais à §a. I would never do that. Jamais is one of the few words that can replace the pas part of the negative in a negation sentence. Some of the others are aucun, personne, and  rien, which are  French negative pronouns. Another anomaly with jamais  is that it doesnt necessarily need to be placed directly after the verb. For emphasis, you can start your sentence with it as well. Jamais je nai vu quelque chose daussi beau. I have never seen anything as beautiful.Jamais je ne toublierai. I will never forget you. Note that in spoken modern French, the ne part of the negation often glides, or even totally disappears. So you need to train your ear to focus on the second part of the negation rather than relying on the first, the ne. Je nai jamais dit à §a sounds like: Jnay jamay di sa or even jay jamay di sa, but both pronunciations mean the same thing.  Because of this difficulty, focus on the context, as that is the best way to identifying the meaning of jamais. Jamais on Its Own The simplest and most traditional meaning of jamais is never. Besides negation sentences, jamais also means never when used on its own or in a sentence fragment. Est-ce que tu travailles le lundi? Non, jamais. Do you work on Mondays? No, never.Est-ce que tu travailles le Samedi? Oui, mais jamais le dimanche. Do you work on Saturdays? Yes, but never on Sundays. Jamais in a Question or Hypothesis When used by itself in a question or a hypothesis without a negative, jamais means ever. In questions, jamais creates a very formal tone and its meaning becomes ever. Similarly, with the hypothetical si, as in the expression si jamais, the meaning is if ever. Jamais in Formal Questions A-t-elle jamais dansà © le tango? Has she ever danced tango?Tu tes jamais demandà © si cà ©tait vrai? Have you ever wondered if it was true?Es-tu jamais allà © à   Paris? Have you ever been to Paris? Today, its more common to use dà ©jà  , meaning already, instead of jamais. This is mainly the case when the verb is in past tense, as in: Es-tu dà ©jà   allà © à   Paris? Have you ever (already) been to Paris?As-tu dà ©jà   vu le nouvel Alien? Have you already seen the new Alien movie? Si Jamais Si jamais tu as besoin de quoique ce soit, appelle-moi. If you ever need anything, let me know.Si jamais tu vas à   Paris, tà ©là ©phone-moi. If you ever go to Paris, call me. If modern spoken French frequently drops the ne, how do you know if its ever or never? As mentioned earlier, you have to take into consideration the context of the sentence.   French Expressions With Jamais Finally, jamais is part of many expressions, all having to do with ever and never. Tu es plus belle que jamais mon amour. You are as beautiful as ever my love.Maintenant, ils seront ensemble à   jamais. Now, they will be together forever.Je laime à   tout jamais. I love him forever and ever.Cest maintenant ou jamais. Its now or never.  Je nai jamais rien dit. I have never told anything.