C’était un peu du n’importe quoi

Question

C’était un peu du n’importe quoi- why isn’t it “c’était un peu de n’importe quoi “ ? I always thought that de was used after a quantity ?

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Anita,
With the expression "n'importe quoi" you can use 'du' or you will omit it (de) entirely:

C'était (du) n'importe quoi ! = It was nonesense!
C'était un peu (du) n'importe quoi ! = It was a bit of a mess!

See partner's link here: N'importe quoi
Attention : 
C'était un peu de café = It was a bit of coffee
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

Hi Anita,It's a bit of a shambles or a mess so is it not the case that "du" is partitive here? Part of the uncountable?This how I see see it  --  hope it helps?Jim