Breakdown of Tu dois acheter des pédales, n'importe lesquelles.
tu
you (informal singular)
des
some (plural indefinite)
acheter
to buy
devoir
to have to / must
la pédale
the pedal
n'importe lesquelles
any ones (f. pl.)
Questions & Answers about Tu dois acheter des pédales, n'importe lesquelles.
Why use n'importe lesquelles here instead of just n'importe quoi?
Could I say Tu dois acheter n'importe quelles pédales instead?
Where does the phrase n'importe actually come from?
It comes from the verb importer (to matter, to be important) used with the negative particle ne. So n'importe literally translates to "it does not matter." Added to lesquelles (which ones), the whole phrase literally means "it doesn't matter which ones."
Why do we use des pédales rather than les pédales?
Des is the plural indefinite article, meaning "some." If you used the definite article les, it would mean "the pedals," implying a specific set of pedals you both already know about. Because the exact choice of pedals doesn't matter here, you have to start with the indefinite des.
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