Il y a quelque chose qui cloche

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Informal French Expression

Meaning	something’s amiss, something isn’t right
Literally	there is something that is wrong
Register	normal
Pronunciation		[ee l(ee) ya kel keu shoz kee klush]
IPA		[i l(i)ja kɛl kə ʃoz ki klɔʃ]

Usage notes: Clocher is an old-fashioned French verb meaning "to limp," which eventually evolved to its modern meaning: "to be defective, to have something wrong."

  Clocher has an additional old-fashioned meaning: "to ring, toll" as in a church bell. Native French speakers are always quick to point out that this is coincidental and has nothing to do with il y a quelque chose qui cloche, but it doesn’t really matter: thinking of the "off" clang of a giant, cracked bell is a great way to remember the meaning of this idiomatic expression.

Par exemple…

Je n’arrive pas à trouver le problème, mais il y a quelque chose qui cloche.		I can’t find the problem, but there is something wrong.
Qu’est-ce qui cloche avec toi ?		What’s wrong with you?

Synonymous expressions

• ne pas marcher – to not work
• quel est le problème ? – what’s the problem?
• quelque chose ne va pas – something is wrong
• qu’est-ce que tu as / il a ? – what’s wrong with you / him?
• qu’est-ce qu’il y a ? – what’s wrong?
• qu’est-ce qui ne va pas ? – what’s wrong?
• qu’est-ce qui se passe ? – what’s wrong?

 Related lessons

• Il y a
• Qui and other relative pronouns
• Clocher is a regular -er verb