Today we’ll have a look at the word rien, which translates to “nothing” and “anything” in French. This word has been on our list for a while as many students struggle with the pronunciation. At the very bottom of the lesson under the photo we’ve included a fun little example sentence using rien. Keep reading!
rien
nothing
Word origin
According to Wiktionary.org, the modern French word rien (nothing, anything) comes from the Latin rem, which is the accusative case form of the Latin res (thing).
Rien pronunciation
When pronouncing rien, the final -n is completely silent. The word rien rhymes with bien (well). The -en in rien and bien use this symbol: [ɛ̃]. This video does a great job teaching the pronunciation.
Example sentences
For this first example sentence, rien as a one-word sentence simply means “nothing”.
Qu’est-ce que tu manges ce soir ? – Rien.
What are you eating tonight? – Nothing.
As mentioned above, rien can also mean “anything”. We explain the ne…rien form in our lesson covering the French negation rules. In this lesson we cover the word français (French) in detail.
Les Français parlent tellement vite. Je ne comprends rien !
The French speak so fast. I don’t understand anything!
De rien means “you’re welcome” in French. The expression “je vous en prie” also means “you’re welcome”. We’ve put “je vous en prie” after “de rien” in the following example sentence to add a layer of politeness. We covered both of these phrases in detail in this lesson.
Merci beaucoup ! Vous êtes très gentil ! – De rien. Je vous en prie.
Thank you very much! You are very kind. – Your welcome.
For this next example, “je n’en sais rien!” can translate loosely to “I have no idea”, “I have no clue” or “I haven’t the foggiest”. The en is an indirect object pronoun meaning “abou that”. Sais is the first-person singular (je) form of savoir (to know).
Quand est-ce que les Jeux olympiques commencent ? – Je n’en sais rien!
When are the Olympics games starting? – I have no idea!
In this final example sentence, rien is the subject: “nothing” + verb. The expression venir à l’esprit means “to come to mind”.
Tu as des idées ? Non, rien ne me vient à l’esprit.
Do you have any ideas? – No. Nothing comes to mind.
Conclusion
Et voilà ! Now you know how to use rien (nothing, anything) in French. Now check our lesson covering the useful adverb toujours (always)!
