French Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the French language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I understand that there are set phrases it can be used in (as mentioned in my first question about “non mais”) but what cases would it be used most naturally?
« Non mais sérieux, c’est quoi ça ? »
« Non mais il est fou ! »
« Non mais pourquoi ? »
Are these natural? If not, what are some good ways to use it to emphasize what you’re saying and what do they mean? Is there an equivalent in English?
"Non mais" should obviously not be translated literally. It replaces a WTH (or WTF, or "Wait!"...) in the sense of "why on Earth would that happen/be?".
It could be replaced with "Attends !..." (literal translation of "Wait!"), or "sans déconner" (literal translation of "No kidding!") like in:
Attends/Non mais/Sans déconner ! Tu es en train de me dire que...
