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French Expression in English
| Meaning | something inexplicable | |
| Literally | I don’t know what | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation | [zheu n(eu) say kwah] | |
| IPA | [ʒə nə se kwa] | |
Usage notes: There’s a certain je ne sais quoi about the expression je ne sais quoi, don’t you think? In French, it literally means “I don’t know what”:
Par exemple…
| Il ne sait quoi étudier cette année. | He doesn’t know what to study this year. | |
| Elle a promis d’apporter du vin, de l’eau, des boissons gazeuses et je ne sais quoi encore. | She promised to bring wine, water, soda, and I don’t know what else. |
To describe something in vague terms, you can use je ne sais quoi + de + adjective. The adjective does not change to agree with the subject, but rather remains in the default masculine singular form.
Par exemple…
| Cette histoire a je ne sais quoi d’inquiétant. | There’s something disturbing about this story. | |
| Les bâtiments ont je ne sais quoi de menaçant. | The buildings are kind of creepy, There’s something kind of creepy about the buildings. |
Variations
- je ne sais quoi
- je-ne-sais-quoi
- un je ne sais quoi
- un je-ne-sais-quoi
In English, we use je ne sais quoi only to mean “a certain something” or “something inexplicable.” It’s usually modified by the (English) adjective “certain”:
Pierrette has a certain "je ne sais quoi" about her today.
It’s a beautiful town, but it lacks a certain “je ne sais quoi.”
Related lessons
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