Have you ever come across n’importe? I surely did but somewhat it had different endings like.. ‘n’importe quoi’, ‘n’importe qui’, ‘n’importe où’… I could understand but at the same time, I couldn’t pinpoint what it really meant. So I summarised some for me and you. C’est parti!
But first, what is « n’importe »?
If you search in the dictionary « n’importe » is translated as this:
Let’s keep this in our head, n’importe is:
whatever, regardless or no matter.
5W and 1H in French
Before starting to get into it, let’s check one of your fundamental knowledge. What are 5W and 1H in French?
Qui - Who
Quoi - What
Quand - When
Où - Where
Pourquoi - Why
Comment - How
Are you still here? I hope you are!
All the different types of tail
After touching upon these two we are ready to check the details. Here you go!
N'importe quoi - anything, whatever
« Tu peux choisir n'importe quoi. » (You can choose anything.)
N'importe qui - anyone, whoever
« N'importe qui peut le faire. » (Anyone can do it.)
N'importe où - anywhere, wherever
« Je peux dormir n'importe où. » (I can sleep anywhere.)
N'importe quand - anytime, whenever
« Tu peux venir me voir n'importe quand. » (You can come see me anytime.)
N'importe quel/le - any, whichever
« Choisis n'importe quel livre. » (Choose any book.)
Until here is very straightforward! There are two more phrases that I want to introduce you all.
N'importe comment - anyhow, however, any way, any which way, carelessly
« Tu ne peux pas t'habiller n'importe comment pour cet événement.. » (You can't dress just any way for this event…)
It is used to indicate that any manner or method is acceptable, often with a negative connotation implying carelessness. If you know Korean, there is a word for this “아무렇게나”, if it makes it easier.
Faire n'importe quoi - to do anything, to behave in a careless or random manner
« Il fait vraiment n'importe quoi. » (He really does anything.)
It is used to criticize someone’s actions as being random or careless.
If you are still confused, search the whole phrase in one go in a dictionary like this. It will give you more examples and all its specific meanings! * I also used GPT for some examples above.
Did you master each tail? Like this superstar Pokemon? If you ever come across n’importe qch I hope you feel at more ease after reading this post!