The French sentence "Ce n'est pas mon truc" explained

You are in the right place to learn all the things you need to know about the basic phrase “Ce n’est pas mon truc”.

This include a detailed definition of what it is and how to use it in a conversation with an audio example. Along with the cool stuff we added like slow pronunciation audio, dialogue example and more!

Oh and if you want, you can also find more phrases pages like this one on this page plus the ultimate directory of all our French words pages on this page. Ready to learn? Let’s go!

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Translation in English

Pronunciation guide

Slow pronunciation

Normal pronunciation

What does it mean?

Definition

It literally means:

  • Ce → This
  • N’est pas → Is not
  • Mon truc → My thing

Depending on context, this French sentence can have two meanings: that you are not very good at something or that you don’t enjoy doing something.

How to use

First scenario: someone asks you if you are a talented singer, but you’re really not… so you can say: “Non, ce n’est pas mon truc“. It doesn’t mean that you don’t like to sing, just that you are not talented.

Second scenario: someone asks you if you enjoy doing hiking and you hate it, you can also say: “Non, ce n’est pas mon truc“. Here, it’s clear that you just don’t like it, even if you might be good at it.

Disclaimer: both scenarios aren’t 100% independent because we tend to be good at what we enjoy doing and vice versa…

You can also use “C’est pas mon truc” which is exactly the same thing, but a bit shorter. Indeed many French people skip the ” n’ ” part, which represents the negation, because the word “pas” is clear enough to make the sentence negative.

Fun facts

A very-similar-but-yet-different sentence that you can use is “Ce n’est pas mon problème” which is a very very polite way to say “I don’t care” (literally: “It’s not my problem“).

Synonyms

  • Ce n’est pas du tout mon truc. (“It’s really not my thing“)
  • Ce n’est pas mon genre. (“It’s not my genre“)
  • Ce n’est pas mon style. (“It’s not my style“)
  • C’est pas du tout mon truc. (“It’s really not my thing“)
  • C’est pas mon truc. (“It’s not my thing“)
  • C’est pas mon genre. (“It’s not my genre“)
  • C’est pas mon style. (“It’s not my style“)

Example in a story with translation

Now, let’s see a complete example of this idiom in a story with slow French audio and the English translation below.
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Un film triste
A sad movie
___
Karine:   Ce film est tellement triste !
This movie is so sad!
Rémi:   Oui… vraiment déprimant.
Yes… really depressing.
Karine:   Imagine… Elle a perdu son enfant, sa famille et même son travail.
Imagine… She lost her child, her family and even her job.
Rémi:   C’est horrible.
That’s horrible.
Karine:   Je me sens mal pour elle… Pauvre femme !
I feel bad for her… Poor woman!
Le film se termine. Karine essuie ses larmes…
The film ends. Karine wipes her tears…
Karine:   Je ne peux pas arrêter de pleurer…
I can’t stop crying…
Rémi:   C’était un film intéressant, bon choix !
It was an interesting movie, good choice!
Karine:   C’est tout ce que tu as à dire ?
Is that all you have to say?
Rémi:   Qu’est-ce que tu veux que je dise ?
What do you want me to say?
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