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The French phrase "Peu importe" explained

Get ready to discover all the things you ever wanted to know about the basic French phrase “Peu importe”.

This include a full guide of what it is and how to use it in a normal conversation with an audio example. Together with the cool stuff we sprinkled like dialogue example, synonym, slow pronunciation audio and more!

In case you are interested, on this page you will find more of these phrases guides plus the ultimate list of all our French words guides on this page. Wish you a happy learning!

French to English translation

Audio pronunciation

Slow pronunciation

Normal pronunciation

Peu importe meaning

Definition

It’s a common expression that means: “It doesn’t matter / Whatever“. This is the most polite way to express this idea in French, and it will work in most situations.

“Ça m’est égal” (It’s egal to me) is also a formal synonym that you can use. Check the “Synonyms” chapter below for tons of variations, especially much more familiar ones…

How to use it

Your boss asks you if you prefer working tomorrow or the day after, you can say: “Peu importe.” (It doesn’t matter much). It implies you are fine with both options.

Your friend asks you if you prefer eating pizza or sushis, but you don’t have a firm opinion on the topic, you can say: “Peu importe, tout me va” (Whatever, I’m fine with anything)

Synonyms

They are sorted from the more “formal” to the more “vulgar“, even though this is not an exact science and can vary depending on people, culture, religion, etc.

Ça m’est égal. (“It’s equal to me“)
Je m’en moque. (“I’m mocking it“)
Ça me passe par dessus la tête. (“It’s going above my head“)
Ça me passe par dessus la jambe. (“It’s going above my leg“)
J’en ai rien à faire. (“I have nothing to do with it“)
Rien à cirer. (“Nothing to wax“)
Je m’en fous. (“I don’t care“)
Je m’en bats l’oeil. (“I’m beating my eye with it“)
Je m’en balance. (“I’m swinging with it“)
Je m’en tape. (“I’m beating myself with it“)
Je m’en contre fiche. (“I don’t give a f**k“)
Je m’en contrefous. (“I don’t give a f**k“)
Je m’en fiche complètement. (“I completely don’t care“)
Je m’en fous complètement. (“I completely don’t care“)
J’en m’en tamponne le coquillard. (“I’m stamping my shell with it“)
J’en m’en tamponne le coquillard avec une queue de hareng. (“I’m stamping my shell with a herring’s tail“)
Ça m’en touche une sans faire bouger l’autre. (“It’s touching one without the second one moving“)
J’en ai rien à foutre. (“I have nothing to f**k with it“)
J’en ai rien à branler. (“I have nothing to masturbate with it“)
Je m’en branle. (“I’m masturbating with it“)
Je m’en bats les steaks. (“I’m beating my steaks with it“)
Je m’en bats les couilles. (“I’m beating my balls with it“)
Je m’en bats la race. (“I’m beating my race with it“)

Everyday life dialogue example with audio

Audio dialogue from French people

Dialogue audio

Dialogue text

” Tu veux manger où ? “

” Where do you want to eat? “

” Peu importe “

” It doesn’t matter much “

” Ça ne m’aide pas beaucoup… “

” It’s not really helping… “