Question 1

Why do we use n'importe lesquels here instead of just n'importe quoi?

Accepted Answer

N'importe quoi means 'anything' in a general, abstract sense. Here, you are referring back to a specific category of things mentioned earlier (des freins). To say 'any of them' or 'any ones [from this specific group]', you use the indefinite pronoun n'importe lesquels to match the noun it replaces.

Question 2

Why is the pronoun en used in je lui en achète? Couldn't I just say je lui achète n'importe lesquels?

Accepted Answer

While je lui achète n'importe lesquels is grammatically possible, using en here is very natural in everyday French. En acts as the core direct object meaning 'some', and n'importe lesquels is tacked on to specify which ones. It essentially translates to: 'I am buying him some, just any of them.'

Question 3

Why do we use lui here instead of le?

Accepted Answer

The structure is acheter quelque chose à quelqu'un (to buy something for someone). Because the person receiving the item is an indirect object (introduced by the preposition à), you must use the indirect object pronoun lui (for him) instead of the direct object pronoun le.

Question 4

How do we know to use the masculine plural lesquels instead of lesquelles?

Accepted Answer

The pronoun must agree in gender and number with the noun it replaces. The word for a brake, un frein, is masculine. Since he wants plural brakes (des freins), the pronoun must take the masculine plural form lesquels.

Il veut des freins, je lui en achète n'importe lesquels.

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