We are going to explain you everything you have to know about the basic expression "Quoi de neuf ?". More precisely, this includes a detailed explanation of what it is and how you can use it in everyday life with an audio example. Plus, we also added some useful stuff like slow pronunciation audio, dialogue example, synonym and more!
Translation : What's up?
Literal meaning : What's new?
Register : Informal - Basic
Slow
Normal
IPA : / kwa də nœf ? /
"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...
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...
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.
↓ Example in a story with slow audio ↓
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