personne ne t'aime
In French, "nobody likes you" is said as personne ne t'aime.
This phrase is used to tell someone that no one has any affection or fondness for them. While the verb can mean 'to like', in the context of interpersonal relationships, it carries the weight of 'to love', making the phrase quite harsh.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of personne (nobody), ne (not), t’ (you) and aime (loves/likes).
Which one should you use?
If you are addressing more than one person or using the formal vous instead of the informal tu, the phrase changes to personne ne vous aime.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Quebecois French, you may hear Personne ne t'aime pantoute to mean "Nobody likes you at all".
How does it change in a sentence?
To change who is being liked, you can replace the object pronoun t’ with l’ to say personne ne l'aime (nobody likes him/her).
Did you know?
- While aimer is the word for 'like' or 'love', adding an adverb like bien to say je t'aime bien actually makes the feeling less intense than je t'aime.
- The word personne originates from the Latin persona, which referred to the masks worn by actors in ancient theater.
- The word personne is a 'contronym' because it can mean both 'a person' and 'nobody' depending on the grammar of the sentence.
Examples in context
- Personne ne t'aime.Nobody likes you.This sentence is useful for expressing the phrase personne ne t'aime.Tatoeba #11142184 by Fenrir, translation #2249623 by CK
- Personne ne t'aime vraiment.Nobody really likes you.
- Tu es méchant, personne ne t'aime.You are mean, nobody likes you.
Example conversation
Two siblings are arguing in the living room.
- EmmaTu es vraiment insupportable.You are really unbearable.
- NathanC'est faux !That is not true!
- EmmaRegarde, personne ne t'aime ici.Look, nobody likes you here.
- NathanTu es très méchante, Emma.You are very mean, Emma.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ne, personne, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
