I've been having trouble translating "No matter how much I try" in French. I can't give any examples because of how confused I am at using "avoir beau de" and "quel que". Where would you put the "combien" or something like "quelle taille il est"? Can someone give me a good explanation on how to translate "no matter" in French? As in what ever way or manner?
asked Jun 5, 2016 at 7:11
Marco Ruben Abuyuan LlanesMarco Ruben Abuyuan Llanes
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Could you say "Peu importe le taille que j'essaye"?– Marco Ruben Abuyuan LlanesJun 5, 2016 at 7:28
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Why not edit your question to add the content of your comment? It would be much better to have it in the question, and then you can delete the comment.– NoneJun 5, 2016 at 10:43
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2 Answers
"J'ai beau essayer" already includes the notion that the speaker has tried hard, so "how much" doesn't need to be translated or "wedged into" the construction.
J'ai beau essayer, je n'y arrive pas.
No matter how much I try, I can't manage.
If you want to be specific, you can say something like:
J'ai beau essayer toutes les tailles, aucune ne me va.
No matter how many sizes I try, none fits me.
The problem you're encountering with finding an exact, more directly word-for-word translation of the sentence you're starting from isn't related to "no matter what", but to the fact that "how much I try" doesn't have a direct equivalent in French. You just wouldn't say "j'ai beau essayer beaucoup" or "peu importe la quantité de mes efforts", even though these are grammatically correct; that's just not a phrasing that's used with "essayer".
On the other hand there's no issue with "No matter how many times I try..." which becomes "J'ai beau essayer un grand nombre de fois" or "Peu importe le nombre de fois que j'essaie".
"No matter" is "peu importe" or "quoi que + subjonctif" in french. For your example you could translate it by "Quoi que j'essaie" ou "Peu importe ce que j'essaie"
"Essayer" happen to be the same in subjonctive form for "je", but with "faire" it would be "Quoi que je fasse" (subjonctif) and "Peu importe ce que je fais" (indicatif).
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Where would you put "how much"? Could you say "N'importe quel est le taille que j'essaye" or "Peu importe le taille que j'essaye"? Jun 5, 2016 at 8:28
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"La taille" = "the size", so no. There is basically no idiomatic form with an exact equivalent of "how much". "J'ai beau essayer", "Quoi que je fasse" or "Peu importe ce que j'essaie" are all sufficient to convey the meaning of you trying hard but in vain. You might say "J'ai beau essayer encore et encore", "J'ai beau essayer dur", but it's not necessary. Jun 5, 2016 at 10:32
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To add to what DaWaaaaghBabal said you could also say "Peu importe le nombre de fois où j'ai essayé", "Peu importe combien [de fois] j'ai essayé".. ("how much" translate to "combien")– JyloJun 5, 2016 at 12:13