Level: A2 (Upper Beginner)
The French word of the day is rien (A2), meaning both ‘nothing’ and ‘anything’. When pronouncing rien, the final -n is completely silent. This lesson covers five ways to use rien in practical example sentences.
rien – IPA pronunciation /ʀjɛ̃/
nothing, anything
Master “Rien”: The French Word for Nothing & Anything
Word origin
The Modern French word rien comes from the Latin rem, which is the accusative case form of the Latin res (thing).
Rien 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.
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’.
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 ‘about that’.
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 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.
Useful expressions with rien
- Rien du tout nothing at all
- Ça ne fait rien It doesn’t matter/never mind
- Ça ne fait rien Don’t worry/thing nothing of it/never mind
- Rien à voir To have nothing to do with, to be nothing like
- Rien à dire Nothing to say
- Rien à faire There’s nothing that can be done/It’s hopeless
- Rien à foutre Who cares!/Who gives a sh*t!
- Je n’y peux rien There’s nothing I can do about it.
- Trois (or deux) fois rien Next to nothing, very little
- Rien que Only, nothing but
Continue learning French!
Related lessons
Many students learn rien together with jamais, which is also used in French negations.
References
