pas grand-chose
In French, "nothing much" is expressed as pas grand-chose.
The phrase is used to indicate that there is not much happening or that nothing important has occurred. It is a very common response to the question Quoi de neuf ? (What's new?) to show that nothing significant has happened.
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, pas grand-chose means "not big thing".
How does it change in a sentence?
In standard French, this phrase is used with the negative particle ne (for example, Il n'y a pas grand-chose). However, in spoken/informal French, the ne is almost always dropped.
When do people say it?
When someone asks you Quoi de neuf ?, you can use pas grand-chose to signal that nothing significant has happened.
Did you know?
- The word pas in this phrase actually comes from the Latin word for 'a step'. It originally meant 'not a step', implying that nothing at all had happened.
- While pas grand-chose means 'nothing much', using the word chose in other contexts can be seen as vague or imprecise, which some formal French writers avoid entirely.
Examples in context
- Il ne se passe pas grand-chose.Nothing much is happening.This sentence shows how to use pas grand-chose to say nothing much is happening.Tatoeba #11587037 by Aiji, translation #3129491 by CK
- Il n'y a pas grand-chose à dire.There's nothing much to tell.This sentence uses pas grand-chose to say there is nothing much to tell.Tatoeba #4431287 by sacredceltic, translation #3200731 by CK
- Il n'y a pas grand-chose à acheter.There's nothing much to buy.This sentence uses pas grand-chose to say there is nothing much to buy.Tatoeba #3272271 by Micsmithel, translation #3272270 by CM
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Gabriel and Léa are talking on the phone in the evening.
- GabrielQuoi de neuf, Léa ?What's new, Léa?
- LéaPas grand-chose, et toi ?Nothing much, and you?
- GabrielRien de spécial, je me repose.Nothing special, I am resting.
- LéaD'accord, à plus tard !Okay, see you later!
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries grand-chose, pas, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
