/ʁjɛ̃/
Translation
nothing, not anything
Word origin
From Latin rem, the accusative of res ('thing'). It originally meant 'thing' and acquired its negative sense ('nothing') from use in negative clauses with ne.
- Origin
- Latin
- Root
- rem (res)
- English cognates
- real, republic
Examples
' .
There's nothing to eat in the kitchen.
, ' .
It doesn't matter, don't worry.
' .
He said nothing throughout the whole meeting.
' .
He didn't say anything during the whole meal.
, .
There's no point running, the train has already left.
Where this fits
Used in
Stories
(17)On a le temps
1 min read · Core 1000
Un soir avec Marc
1 min read · Core 1000
Pas la même chose
2 min read · Core 1000
Seule dans la nuit
2 min read · Core 1000
Cuisiner ensemble
3 min read · Core 1000
La fête surprise
3 min read · Core 1000
Le nouveau docteur
3 min read · Core 1000
Le nouveau voisin
3 min read · Core 1000
Le premier jour de travail
3 min read · Core 1000
Un après-midi de pluie
3 min read · Core 1000
Clara trouve sa place
4 min read · Core 1000
Il faut que tu partes
4 min read · Core 5000
Il ne reste que ça
4 min read · Core 5000
Un voyage difficile
4 min read · Core 1000
Dubois fait tout refaire
5 min read · Core 5000
Pas devant les clients
5 min read · Core 1000
Une décision a été prise
5 min read · Core 5000
Grammar articles
(11)French Grammar Cheatsheet: The Essentials, One Page
French Adjectives and Nouns with à or de
The French Conditional Perfect: j'aurais fait, elle serait venue
French Demonstrative Pronouns: celui, celle, ceux, celles
French Greetings and Survival Phrases: Say Something Today
French Negation Beyond pas: ne... que, ni... ni, aucun
French Negation: ne... pas, jamais, rien, personne and the Colloquial ne-Drop
j'aurais dû, tu aurais pu: French Regrets and Reproaches
The French Subjunctive in Relative Clauses
French Verbs with à, de or Nothing Before an Infinitive
French Word Order: SVO, the Object Pronoun Inversion, and Six Rules That Cover 90% of Sentences
Add to review queue
Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.
Go to my review queueFrench · Free printables
rien: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the French word "rien" (nothing, not anything): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
Free for members
The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.
Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 2.