N’importe quoi

	Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

Essential French Expression

Meaning	anything, nonsense, whatever
Literally	no matter what
Register	normal, informal
Pronunciation		[neh(n) puhr t(eu) kwah]
IPA		[nɛ̃ pɔʀtə kwa]

Usage notes: Once you learn the French expression n’importe quoi, you’ll quickly find that it’s essential. You probably already know the original meaning,* which is simply "anything":

Par exemple…

But the fun and incredibly useful expression is informal and means "nonsense" or "rubbish."

Par exemple…

Variations

• N’importe quoi
• C’est n’importe quoi
• C’est du n’importe quoi
• C’est du grand n’importe quoi

Other possible translations

• That’s ridiculous!
• What on Earth are you going on about?!
• What the heck are you talking about?!

Also, while n’importe quoi isn’t quite the same as the dismissive "whatever!", it’s the closest French equivalent I’ve found.

 N’importe quoi is part of the motto of the French prankster and video maker N’importe qui (né Rémi Gaillard).

C’est en faisant n’importe quoi, qu’on devient n’importe qui !

(alternatively: C’est en faisant n’importe quoi, que l’on** devient n’importe qui !)

Literally “It’s by doing nonsensical things that you become nonsensical” but perhaps better translated as “It’s by doing anything that you become anyone." This is a play on his stage name as well as on the French proverb C’est en forgeant qu’on devient forgeron:

• Literally, "It’s by forging that one becomes a blacksmith"
• Idiomatically, "Practice makes perfect"

 N’importe quoi in action

Examples of n’importe quoi in real-life videos from Lawless French Immersion:

 Related lessons

• * All about n’importe
• ** On vs l’on
• Expression: peu importe
• Conjugations: importer | être
• Negative adverbs

 Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

French proficiency test by