In today’s lesson we’ll have a look at the word quelque chose, which means something. Est-ce que tu veux apprendre quelque chose? Do you want to learn something? Let’s begin!
quelque chose
something
Word origin
For the Modern French term quelque chose (something), quelque is a combination of quel (which) and que (that), which come from qualis and quid in Latin. Chose means “thing” and comes from causa (cause, reason) in Latin.
Example sentences
These first two example sentences use the near future tense (le futur proche), which combines the present tense of aller (to go) with an infinitive to mean “going to”. This lesson explains the French future tenses.
Je vais acheter quelque chose pour les enfants.
I’m going to buy something for the kids.
The verb coucher means “to put to bed”. In the reflexive form, se coucher means to go to bed.
Je vais manger quelque chose avant de me coucher.
I’m going to eat something before going to bed.
J’ai quelque chose à te dire.
I have something to say to you.
This last example sentence is actually a quote from Winston Churchill. The expression il vaut mieux means “it’s better to”.
Il vaut mieux faire quelque chose que ne rien faire en attendant de tout faire.
It’s better to do something than to do nothing while waiting to do everything.
Conclusion
Et voilà ! Now you know how to use quelque chose in French! Now check this lesson explaining the word rien, which is the opposite of quelque chose and means “anything” or “nothing”.
