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C'est dingue, personne ne savait !

C'est dingue, personne ne savait !
It is crazy, nobody knew!
From Lesson 284:Informal French·French

Questions & Answers about C'est dingue, personne ne savait !

Is dingue a formal word?
Dingue is an informal, everyday word for crazy or wild. It is used heavily in spoken French as a casual alternative to the standard word fou. You would not use it in a formal essay or professional email, but it is perfect for chatting with friends.
Why is there no pas in personne ne savait?
In French, the negative word personne (nobody or no one) replaces the word pas. When personne is the subject of the sentence, the structure is personne ne followed by the verb. Adding pas to this would be grammatically incorrect, similar to making a double negative in English.
Why use savait here instead of connaissait?
Both verbs mean to know, but savoir is used for knowing facts, information, or how to do something. Connaître is used for being familiar with a person, place, or a specific noun. In this sentence, nobody knew refers to a fact or a secret, so savoir is the correct choice.
Why is the verb in the imperfect tense (savait) rather than the passé composé (a su)?
The imperfect tense is used here to describe an ongoing state of mind in the past, meaning what people knew or did not know over a period of time. If you used the passé composé (personne n'a su), the meaning would change to focus on a specific event, translating closer to nobody found out or nobody realized.

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