Word
N'importe qui peut chanter, ne serait-ce que pour s'amuser.
Meaning
Anyone can sing, if only to have fun.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of N'importe qui peut chanter, ne serait-ce que pour s'amuser.
pour
for
pouvoir
to be able to / can
chanter
to sing
n'importe qui
anyone
Questions & Answers about N'importe qui peut chanter, ne serait-ce que pour s'amuser.
Why do we use ne serait-ce que here, and does it ever change form?
Ne serait-ce que is a fixed, invariable phrase meaning "if only" or "even if it is just". It literally translates to "would it not be but". Even if the subject being discussed is plural or feminine, this expression remains exactly the same. Here, it introduces the minimum condition for singing: just for fun.
Why use N'importe qui instead of Quelqu'un or Tout le monde for "anyone"?
Why is s'amuser used in the infinitive here?
In French, prepositions like pour, sans, or de are directly followed by a verb in its infinitive form. Here, pour translates to "in order to", so it is immediately followed by the reflexive infinitive s'amuser (to have fun / to amuse oneself).
Can I use ne serait-ce que before things other than pour plus an infinitive?