N'importe quoi ("nonsense") translation into EnglishWhat clicked for me abruptly when reading this lesson is that there is a relatively good translation that comes to mind: "whatever". Now, my English grammar isn't academic level, but the original meanings of both "n'importe quoi" and "whatever" would appear to to suggest "anything".
Example: "take anything you want" / "take whatever you want"
The similarity is astonishing when you consider the other use of "whatever", namely, "used to express astonishment or perplexity"
Example: "whatever do you mean by that", but also "Whatever!"
I'd be interested in hearing whether this brings clarity on the popular meaning of "n'importe quoi" in French, as it seems to parallel English so closely in its deviation from tradition.
Why does the "Si" clause use imperfect tense and not past conditional tense when the main part of the sentence uses present conditional tense?
(Yes, the answer is likely "That's just the way it works" - but I am curious.)
Qu'est-ce que "younger/little brother" ?
Est-ce «frère plus juene» ou «frère cadet» ?
" Notice that although ne is always required in written French. "
In games like Pokemon they can omit the " ne, " rather than having all the characters speak more formally all the time. So it's not always required, is it? Not in character dialogue.
What clicked for me abruptly when reading this lesson is that there is a relatively good translation that comes to mind: "whatever". Now, my English grammar isn't academic level, but the original meanings of both "n'importe quoi" and "whatever" would appear to to suggest "anything".
Example: "take anything you want" / "take whatever you want"
The similarity is astonishing when you consider the other use of "whatever", namely, "used to express astonishment or perplexity"
Example: "whatever do you mean by that", but also "Whatever!"
I'd be interested in hearing whether this brings clarity on the popular meaning of "n'importe quoi" in French, as it seems to parallel English so closely in its deviation from tradition.
In the question presented, it said she had missed her bus and therefore had to ____________. I put "aller a pied" and the answer came up as "marcher". This does not seem to agree with the explication in the lesson.
Anna
Find your French level for FREE
And get your personalised Study Plan to improve it
Find your French level