je ne sais quoi
/ʒə nə sɛ kwa/
le (masc.) la (fem.)
Underline = a spelling pattern that usually signals that gender.
Meaning
-
an indefinable quality that makes something or someone attractive or distinctive
Usage notes
Literally "I don't know what" — so famous for being untranslatable that English simply borrowed the French phrase whole instead of coining its own.
Practice
1 What does je ne sais quoi mean?
an indefinable quality that makes something or someone attractive or distinctive
2 Fill the gap: Cette robe a un je-ne-___-quoi qui la rend élégante.
Full sentence: Cette robe a un je-ne-sais-quoi qui la rend élégante. (This dress has a certain something that makes it elegant.)
3 Which fingerprint chart matches je ne sais quoi?
je ne sais quoi: neutral register, academic frequency, general domain, neutral connotation.
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