In our last lesson, we looked at three different ways of saying "to look like" in French. We'll continue that pattern in this lesson by introducing the three different ways of saying "to feel": sentir, se sentir, and ressentir. Though these verbs all look alike and have the same meaning, each of them is used in a different context. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Sentir (related to "sense" in English) generally refers to feeling the physical effects of something, such as a post-run stretch or a cool breeze: 

Tu dois sentir une petite tension au niveau, au niveau musculaire.

You should feel a little tension at the level, at the muscular level.

Caption 12, Joanna - La course à pied: Récupération

 Play Caption

J'aime sentir la brise rafraîchissante sur mon visage.

I love feeling the cool breeze on my face.

Besides bodily sensations, sentir can refer to feeling any kind of external pressure: 

Mais cette année on sent la crise, hein.

But this year we're feeling the financial crisis, you know.

Caption 26, Actu Vingtième - Le vide-grenier

 Play Caption

But "feeling" isn't the only sense of sentir. It can also mean "to smell," both in terms of smelling something and giving off a scent: 

Peut-être que vous sentez les odeurs qui sortent des studios

Maybe you smell the aromas that come out of the studios

de temps en temps.

from time to time.

Non, oh pas vraiment parce que nous, on est derrière les cuisines

No, oh not really because us, we're behind the stoves,

et puis ça sent!

and so it smells!

Captions 10-11, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard

 Play Caption

When you make sentir reflexive (se sentir), it becomes less about external, physical feelings and more about internal, emotional ones. While sentir usually takes an object, se sentir usually precedes an adjective or adverb to describe a person's condition or state of mind: 

Très vite, elle se sent menacée.

Very soon, she feels threatened.

Caption 5, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Espion dans l'immeuble

 Play Caption

Ah, je me sens mieux!

Ah, I feel better!

Caption 42, Cap 24 - Les bus sont-ils toujours en retard ?

 Play Caption

Finally, there's ressentir, which literally means "to feel again." That might give you a clue about this verb's connotations. Like se sentir, ressentir also refers to an interior feeling, but it's generally used to describe an intense emotion, something you strongly feel. Like sentir, it usually takes an object: 

Vous voyez cette exigence que je ressentais...

You see this demand that I felt...

Caption 23, Le Journal - Défilé de mode

 Play Caption

C'était vraiment quelque chose que je ressentais,

That it was something that I really felt,

qui me rendait vraiment heureuse.

that made me really happy.

Caption 5, B-Girl Frak - La Danse

 Play Caption

Though ressentir is related to the English verb "to resent," it doesn't have the same meaning. Le ressentiment, however, does mean "resentment." 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Sometimes it's tough to talk about your feelings—no matter what language you're speaking. These three verbs will help you do it in French!

The verb importer has two different meanings: “to import” (goods or merchandise, or even a computer file) and “to be important” or “to matter.” You can use the phrase il importe as a more formal alternative to il est important (it is important) when giving a warning or instruction:

Il importe de se laver les mains avant de manger. 
It is important to wash your hands before you eat. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

But more often, you’ll see the verb used in two set expressions to refer to things that aren’t important, or whose specific identity doesn’t matter. The first of these expressions is peu importe, which means “little does it matter”:

Peu importe si je veux ça, mes larmes en vain,

Little does it matter if I want it, my tears in vain,

et peu importe des lendemains si je t'aime

and little do the tomorrows matter if I love you

Caption 11, Peach FTL - L'Empreinte

 Play Caption

The other expression is not as straightforward but probably even more common. Take a look at this sentence:

C'est le seul art que tu peux faire n'importe où, n'importe quand.

It's the only art that you can do anywhere, anytime.

Captions 7-8, B-Girl Frak - La Danse

 Play Caption

You’ll have to watch the video to find out what artform B-Girl Frak is referring to (though you might be able to guess from the title), but for now, let’s focus on the phrases n’importe où and n’importe quand. Literally translated, they mean “doesn’t matter where” and “doesn’t matter when,” which are roundabout ways of saying “anywhere” and “anytime.” In French, the construction “n’importe + interrogative word (où, quand, qui, quoi, comment, quel)” corresponds to English phrases beginning with “any” (anywhere, anytime, anyone, etc.).

Depending on context, this construction can function as a few different parts of speech. For instance, while n’importe où and n’importe quand act as adverbs, n’importe qui (anyone) and n’importe quand (anytime) act as indefinite pronouns: 

Et qui l'achète? Ah, n'importe qui.

And who buys it? Ah, anyone.

Captions 4-5, Le Journal - La bougie du sapeur

 Play Caption

Le marché Dauphine,

The "Marché Dauphine" [Dauphine Market],

une véritable caverne d'Ali Baba, ici on trouve n'importe quoi.

a veritable Ali Baba's cave, here we find anything.

Caption 2, Cap 24 - Paris : Alessandro fait les Puces!

 Play Caption

N’importe quoi can also be used more informally to mean “ridiculous” or “nonsense”: 

Là, je trouve ça n'importe quoi, parce que, voilà,

I think it's ridiculous because, you know,

chacun a ses... a sa religion.

everyone has ... has his or her own religion.

Caption 16, Grand Lille TV - Sondage: le voile intégral

 Play Caption

If you want to be a bit more specific than “anyone” or “anything,” you can use the expression n’importe quel/quelles/quels/quelles, which is always followed by a noun: 

Vous parlez comme n'importe quel homme.

You talk like any other man.

Caption 31, Bande-annonce - La Belle et La Bête

 Play Caption

Lequel, laquelle, lesquels, and lesquelles can be used to replace “quel/quelle/quels/quelles + noun” (more on that here). Likewise, you can also put n’importe in front of those words to express indifference:

Tu veux aller à la plage ou à la piscine? -N’importe laquelle. 
Do you want to go to the beach or to the pool? -Either one. 

Finally, there’s the adverb phrase n’importe comment, which literally means “any how,” but is usually translated as “any way” or “any which way.” The French house artist Toxic Avenger devoted an entire song to this phrase: 

Bouge ton corps n'importe comment

Move your body any which way

Caption 24, The Toxic Avenger - N'importe comment

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

In informal speech, you’ll even hear n’importe used as a standalone phrase to mean “it doesn’t matter” or “I don’t care” (or even just "whatever"). We hope that you do care about all of the different ways to use importer!