You don’t make allowances for obvious typos? Duolingo does, but I guess we should be more careful.
Look at these sentences:
N'importe qui peut entrer chez toi
Anyone can get into your house
Elle fait confiance à n'importe qui
She trusts anyone
Juliette et Marie parlent à n'importe qui
Juliette and Marie talk to anyone
Note that "n'importe qui" literally means "no matter who", and is used in French to say "anyone".
You use it ONLY in affirmative sentences to emphasise that the identity of the person referred to doesn't matter (ANY one).
ATTENTION:
You would use quelqu'un to express 'anyone' in a question.
Il y a quelqu'un ici ?
Is there anyone here?
(See also Quelqu'un, Quelqu'un d'autre = Someone, Someone else (indefinite pronouns))
You would use personne in a negative sentence.
Non, il n'y a personne.
No, there isn't anyone.
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Juliette et Marie parlent à n'importe qui
Juliette and Marie talk to anyone
Elle fait confiance à n'importe qui
She trusts anyone
N'importe qui peut entrer chez toi
Anyone can get into your house
anyone in a negative sentence
Non, il n'y a personne.
No, there isn't anyone.
anyone in a question
Il y a quelqu'un ici ?
Is there anyone here?
Q&A Forum 4 questions, 11 answers
We're working on improving how we handle typos. For now though, it's best to be as careful as possible. Thanks for the feedback!
Liz asked:View original
Obvious typos
You don’t make allowances for obvious typos? Duolingo does, but I guess we should be more careful.
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Hi Eva,
As Chris correctly says the words 'quiconque' and 'n'importe qui', have the same meaning but are used in different registers.
Just to add to this , 'quiconque' ( meaning literally, 'toute personne qui') is always used in legal French and often in proverbs and cannot be used in a pejorative sense.
Hope this helps!
Quiconque and n'import qui are pretty much synonyms but belong to a different register. The register of a language distinguishes at whom the sentence is addressed, the level of formality employed and under which circumstances it was made. It determines choice of syntax and vocabulary.
There are six registers:
1) Literary language (le registre soutenu) : in poetry and high literature
2) Formal language (le registre formel) : at formal occasions
3) Normal language (le registre normal) : normal everyday language
4) Familiar language (le registre familier) : among friends and family
5) Lower grade popular language (le registre populaire): among buddies
6) Slang (le registre vulgaire): vulgar language
"N'importe qui" I would place in "le registre normal". "Quiconque" belongs to a higher register, either formal or literary French. A native speaker would be able to shed more light on this.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
There is something akin to this in every language, by the way. In English you could say,
Sir, Mister, buddy or bloke to refer to a specific male. In this sense they are all synonyms but each belongs to its own register.
-- Chris.
Thank you Chris, that was really useful.
I asked this question because while I was taking the tests on kwiziq, I tried using "Quiconque" in place of "n'importe qui" and was marked wrong.
Since the question is about practicing the use of "n'importe qui" you are supposed to use that phrase.
-- Chris.
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More context needed, SVP
N'importe qui peut entrer chez toi ---> Anyone can come in your place
I would have thought the translation to be «Anyone can enter your home.»
With the translation provided, it says that «if I am unable to attend, anyone can attend in my place» like for a meeting, etc.
Is this an idiomatic phrase, perhaps a UK translation?
Merci en avance.
Asked 1 year ago
Hi Ron and Chris,
It has been modified to something which I hope you will deem an improvement ...
The translation "anyone can come in your place" a bit stilted, not quite proper English, connotes a different meaning altogether (and has a sexual connotation, if you're inclined to think that way). "Anyone can enter your home" is certainly a better rendition.
-- Chris.
Merci Chris.
I had not considered the «different, sexual connotation»; however, now that it is mentioned, I can certainly understand the sense. So how does one know which sense is meant by the phrase?
Ron, my comment was with respect to the English sentence. The French one is quite clear (to a French native speaker). -- Chris.
Ron asked:View original
More context needed, SVP
N'importe qui peut entrer chez toi ---> Anyone can come in your place
I would have thought the translation to be «Anyone can enter your home.»
With the translation provided, it says that «if I am unable to attend, anyone can attend in my place» like for a meeting, etc.
Is this an idiomatic phrase, perhaps a UK translation?
Merci en avance.
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Anita asked:View original
N’importe qui peut entrer chez toi. I find the of ‘anyone can come in your place’
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