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The French phrase "Quoi de neuf" revealed

On this page, we are going to teach you all the things you want to know about the basic expression "Quoi de neuf ?". More precisely, it includes a complete explanation of what it is and how to use it in a normal conversation with an audio example. But, we also added some useful stuff like slow pronunciation audio, dialogue example, synonym and more!


English translation

  • Translation : What's up?

  • Literal meaning : What's new?

  • Register : Informal - Basic

Pronunciation

Slow

Normal

  • IPA : / kwa də nœf ? /

aesthetic french quote quoi de neuf

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What does it mean exactly?

Definition

"Quoi de neuf ?" is a popular French expression used to say "What's up?". It literally means "What's new?"

It can be used in two different ways...

How to use

First, you can use it with someone you haven't met for a long time, to ask for a little recap of what happened since the last time you met.

In this case, it's very useful as a conversation filler after the usual greetings or when you don't know what to say anymore... For that, simply ask "Quoi de neuf ?" in the middle of the conversation.

But it can also be used to start a conversation. In this case it has the informal meaning of "How are you?". So it's common to hear a French conversation going like:

Because here, you aren't really asked to talk about what's "up" in your life...

Fun fact

You might find on the internet that this expression literally means "What's nine?" which is totally wrong.

The confusion comes from the fact that, depending on the context, the French word "Neuf" can mean "Nine" or "New".

But with "Quoi de neuf ?", it's 100% sure "New". So don't believe any other explanation.

Synonyms

↓ Example in a story with slow audio ↓

Finally, let's see an example in a parallel story with slow audio.

Romance en vacances

Romance on vacation

Ellen était de retour à Paris après ses vacances dans le sud de la France.
Ellen was back in Paris after her vacation in the south of France.
Elle appelle Joe pour l'inviter à boire un verre.
She calls Joe to invite him for a drink.
Quand ils se rencontrent, Joe remarque qu'elle a l'air heureuse et en bonne forme.
When they met, Joe notices that she looks happy and in good shape.
Et très bronzée !
And very tanned!
EllenJe suis tellement heureuse de te voir !
I am so happy to see you!
JoeMoi aussi ! Alors,
quoi de neufLiterally: What's new?
?
Me too! So, what's up?
Puis Ellen commence à raconter ses aventures...
Then Ellen starts to tell her adventures...

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