# je-ne-sais-quoi



## Brian Green

Does anyone know the English translation of je-ne-sais-quois? It means something like "I know....."


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## OlivierG

A "je ne sais quoi" (I do not know what) means something elusive, something you feel but you do not know where the impression comes from.

"Tu as un je ne sais quoi de Julia Roberts" means "something in your face - or elsewhere - makes me think about Julia Roberts".


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## john_riemann_soong

Hmm, is the "quoi" used as a negative particle? 

It is an idiom, but I always thought the "ne" was dropped in colloquial use, if anything is to be dropped, not the particle.


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## edwingill

we use the French expression  for an elusive quality *je-ne-sais-quoi*


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## Nicomon

In case it would help coming up with the right answer  

I know that the French title of "There's something about Mary" (featuring Cameron Diaz) is "Marie a un je ne sais quoi"

a little something? something I can't describe?


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## CARNESECCHI

Hello,
We say "un quelque chose de" or "un petit quelque chose de" too.
Hope it helps!


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## roland098

edwingill said:


> we use the French expression for an elusive quality *je-ne-sais-quoi*


 
Quite. It's one of those phrases that is sometimes used in English without translation, like savoir faire, and others that don't immediately spring to mind! As in: there is a certain je ne sais quoi about this person/place/thing etc. Some interesting/sophisticated/subtly indefinable quality.


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## Iznogoud

Indeed... "The à la carte soufflé has a certain je-ne-sais-quoi, hints of crème brûlée reminiscent of the hors d'oeuvres and amuse-bouches we had with the apéritif."

Though the sentence doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I believe it is proper English...


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## roland098

Iznogoud said:


> Indeed... "The à la carte soufflé has a certain je-ne-sais-quoi, hints of crème brûlée reminiscent of the hors d'oeuvres and amuse-bouches we had with the apéritif."
> 
> Though the sentence doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I believe it is proper English...


 
 Indeed, although you might sound just a touch pretentious if you said all that!

However you could make a phrase more easily with English phrases used in France .. One difference is a lot of French borrowings into English are older (ie early 20th C, 19th C, 18th C) and often make reference to fine living, food and drink, sophistication etc as opposed to contemporary youth culture. Of course there are many, many much older borrowings into English too, such as from Norman French, but they have been anglicised -- castle, forest etc.


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## unefemme1

Hi, I was thinking, the above French phrase means "I don't know what" right? So, if that phrase was used in English text, what would it mean? While reading a "Quills" review (the movie) the writer of the review used that phrase, this is the whole sentence:"even the filth of the foreboding asylum has a certain je ne sais quoi.". What exactly is the writer implying? That the writer's alluding to the fact that the movie has a bit of mysterious air to it? Or something else?? If anyone can help that would be great!


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## zazap

"a certain je ne sais quoi" means "a certain something (special)", but it sounds much nicer in French, doesn't it?


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## liulia

In English it is used by itself, to describe an elusive quality, something for which we can find no appropriate word; often it is something attractive in an otherwise not entirely attractive context.


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## gerardovox

I'm with liulia and zazap it simply is used by itself and simply means 
"a certain something"

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=je+ne+sais+quoi

Francophones: écoutez à l'audio de ce lien.


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## unefemme1

Oh...right. Thanks so much all of you for your help! I wonder why the author didn't just write it all in English in the first place...its confusing for people like me! lol Thanks again for your help!


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## mykstor

_*Je ne sais quoi*_ it seems, is becoming a bit dated in English.. at least in A.E. 

The  use of French words and phrases in B.E and A.E. has historically  implied elevated cultural status and sense of style as well as, of  course, superior education in worldly matters.
For English speakers, interspersing Russian phrases for example, just doesn't lend the same _je ne sais quoi_.
But  _je ne sais quoi_  has been neatly and quite commonly replaced by another "french-style"  misnomer imbued with basically the same meaning, especially in  advertising and public relations circles, as in this example:

"McGill  Advertising, Corp. struggled for more than three months to invent a  catchy name for its client's latest pet project, a completely mundane  tampon. 
The product sorely needed some kind of _*cachet*_ to set it apart from its many competitors. Eventually, all parties agreed to brand the thing _Sublime_."


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## econo

I agree with Mykstor.  Thirty years ago the use of je ne sais quoi in an American text might have impressed.  Now it just seems pretentious-même pour nous qui aimons la langue de molière.


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## ilvadesoi

john_riemann_soong said:


> Hmm, is the "quoi" used as a negative particle?
> 
> It is an idiom, but I always thought the "ne" was dropped in colloquial use, if anything is to be dropped, not the particle.



Was just reading through this post and this question, precisely what I was looking for, wasn't answered. Could anyone help out?


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## Quaeitur

Here, we are not talking about a _ne explétif_. It is part of the negation. The expression should be: je ne sais pas quoi. The pas is droped, and the ne stands alone to indicate the negation. You cannot omit it as well, or you lose the negative form entirely


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## ilvadesoi

Quaeitur said:


> Here, we are not talking about a _ne explétif_. It is part of the negation. The expression should be: je ne sais pas quoi. The pas is droped, and the ne stands alone to indicate the negation. You cannot omit it as well, or you lose the negative form entirely



I understand that, but why isn't it "je sais pas quoi"? If something is being omited, why is it the 'pas' and not the 'ne' ?


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## Quaeitur

Well, first of all, I'm tempted to say "Just because!". It is a set expression, and that's it.

Then, the two offered translations belong to different lexical registers  

Dropping the pas, keeping the ne is "very good French" (sorry, I can't find the right term here. I mean that cela appartient à un registre de vocabulaire élevé)

Keeping the pas, dropping the ne is quite familiar and even considered improper French.


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## ilvadesoi

Dropping the pas and keeping the ne is considered very good French? In any context/example?


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## Il fuoco

It only happens with certain verbs; those that I can think of off the top of my head are _savoir_, _pouvoir_, _césser_, and _oser_ (but I suppose there are others), and only in very careful, formal (soutenue) sort of French.  You can find out about it here (About.com) and we have a previous discussion here. While this is primarily a convention in writing if you listen to formal speaking (the politicians giving their speeches, especially given the upcoming election in 2012) you will hear it too.


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## ilvadesoi

Ça, c'est très intéressant! Et merci beaucoup pour les liens.


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## floralies

Hello,

Je souhaiterais savoir comment on traduit :


"Tu as ce "je ne sais quoi" bien à toi, qui t 'est propre...."

(en parlant d'un trait de caractère, d'une manière d'agir...)

Je ne sais pas du tout comment traduire ou chercher cela....

Merci de m'aider

Bonne journée


Floralies


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## OLN

Pour la recherche, il est de bon ton dans ce forum de commencer ici  : http://www.wordreference.com/fren/je ne sais quoi
On y trouve des liens vers un dizaine de fils anciens.

Idem pour les dictionnaires en ligne ou papier : essayer avec l'orthographe _je-ne-sais-quoi._


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## sweet'n'slightlynutty

I would say
You have "a certain something"...


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## Carcassonnaise

We do quite commonly use the French phrase in English.  "You have a 'je ne sais quoi' that is all your own..."


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## floralies

Merci beaucoup pour vos réponses ici et pour l'indication des autres posts


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## archijacq

"ce je-ne-sais-quoi": that undefinable it [factor]


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## franc 91

That undescribable quality (suggestion)


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