"Je ne doute point d'apprendre"

Question

En français dans le texte, from Shakespeare's Henry V Act 3 Scene 4:

Katherine — Je ne doute point d'apprendre [...] et en peu de temps.

Meaning “I have no doubt learned et in a short time”.

What grammatical purpose does “point de” serve in this sentence?

Rather, “I will no doubt learn” — literally (and expressed in a similar old-fashioned way), “I doubt not that I shall learn”. — Gilles 'SO nous est hostile', Oct 23 '13 at 09:00

score 9 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 23 '13 at 06:24

9

"Je ne doute point" is another way of saying "je ne doute pas". It is a negative, it is very formal and sounds old fashioned nowadays but might have been standard French is the 16th century.

answered Oct 23 '13 at 06:24

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Vous avez complètement raison. J'ai vu souvent cette construction dans la littérature française... par exemple, Le bourgeois gentilhomme de Molière. – Patrick Sebastien Oct 23 '13 at 16:22

"Je ne doute point d'apprendre"

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