Nothing, anything in French 🇫🇷

Simple Pronunciation

rien (ree-ehn)

6 months ago

rien info.

Tips to remember the French word ‘rien’:

1. Associate ‘rien’ with the English phrase ‘nothing remains’ – it may help you recall that ‘rien’ means ‘nothing’.
2. Think of the French phrase ‘Rien ne va plus’ popularly used in roulette, which means ‘no more bets’. This can remind you that ‘rien’ relates to the absence of something.

Explanations:

– ‘Rien’ is a pronoun that represents the absence of anything, no thing or not anything.
– In French, ‘rien’ is often used with the particle ‘ne’ in negative constructions, such as “Je ne vois rien” (I don’t see anything).

Other words that mean the same thing:

– ‘Néant’ (the void or nonexistence). It’s a more philosophical term and not used as commonly in everyday speech.
– ‘Que dalle’ (slang, colloquial for ‘nothing at all’).

Alternate meanings like slang:

– In slang, ‘rien’ can take on an emphatic role, as in “C’est pas rien!” (It’s not nothing!/That’s something!).

Examples of sentences that use ‘rien’:

– “Je ne comprends rien.” (I don’t understand anything.)
– “Il n’y a rien dans le frigo.” (There’s nothing in the fridge.)
– “Pourquoi tu pleures ? – C’est rien.” (Why are you crying? – It’s nothing.)
– “Il semble que rien n’ait changé ici.” (It seems that nothing has changed here.)
– “Rien ne peut m’arrêter maintenant.” (Nothing can stop me now.)

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