“Quand même” to mean “anyway”

Question

“Tu ne comprendrais quand même jamais.”

Does this mean “you wouldn’t understand, anyway”? If not, how can I best translate that? Can I even put “quand même” before “jamais,” or does it go after?

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 17 '20 at 09:38

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Not sure why other answers consider the conditional mood incorrect here but your sentence is just fine:

Tu ne comprendrais quand même jamais.

Alternatives can be:

De toute façon, tu ne comprendrais jamais.

Malgré tout, tu ne comprendrais jamais.

edited Jun 17 '20 at 09:38

Community

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answered May 22 '19 at 08:40

jlliagre

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Thank you; I was confused due to the conflicting answers and mildly frustrated, but I feel better knowing I took a guess and got it right. – tssmith2425 May 22 '19 at 08:44
@jiliagre Je ne vois tout de même que très peu de cas d'utilisations de "Tu ne comprendrais quand même jamais." auriez vous un (ou plusieurs) exemples? – Ced May 22 '19 at 12:02
@Ced Il n'y en a pas pléthore mais en voici deux : Quelques grenouilles commencèrent à se résigner sauf une, notamment, qui continuait à grimper bien que les gens continuaient à se moquer ou à les plaindre : « Quelle peine perdue ! Elles n’y arriveront quand même jamais ! » et * Tu dis « oui, si Futuropolis faisait les livres comme on les fait »… ça n’arrivera quand même jamais.. – jlliagre May 22 '19 at 12:22
@Ced et aussi: Non ! Tu ne comprendrais quand même pas !, Georges Simenon, Long cours – jlliagre May 22 '19 at 12:27

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered May 22 '19 at 07:33

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It is ok to put "quand même" before "jamais".

But, I would say either

Tu ne comprendras quand même jamais.

or

Tu ne comprendrais quand même pas.

If you want to be a little more sustained, you can also use "Tu ne comprendras donc jamais."

answered May 22 '19 at 07:33

Kilarn123

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Thank you! What meaning does “donc” take on in your example? – tssmith2425 May 22 '19 at 07:37
In this context, it means about the same as "quand même", it is mostly for emphasis. It just sounds more sustained. Depending on what the context of your text is, it can be more appropriate – Kilarn123 May 22 '19 at 07:45
Got it, thank you. I’m writing some song lyrics, mostly in English. But I threw in a couple lines of French: “je ne crois pas que t’en es déjà là / mais tu ne comprendras quand même jamais” to mean “I don’t think you’re there yet / but you’ll never understand anyway.” At least, that’s what I want it to say. – tssmith2425 May 22 '19 at 08:18
Not at all, "donc" is a word meant to express a consequence ; "quand même" expresses the disregard of a condition, order, principle, etc. that has been previously stated, the happening of something in spite of adversity, contrary conditions, etc. "Donc" cannot be assimilated with "quand même". However, it's perfectly correct to use "quand même" before "jamais". – LPH May 22 '19 at 08:50
@LPH The primary meaning of "donc" cannot cannot be assimilated, but that is not the only meaning. It can also introduce a conclusion or show surprise (source). Here it is to introduce the conclusion that the person will never understand. – Kilarn123 May 22 '19 at 09:19
@tssmith2425 if you mean "but you’ll never understand anyway" "comprendras" is better, if you mean "but you’d never understand anyway" -> "comprendrais" – Kilarn123 May 22 '19 at 09:20
@Kilarn123 I can't agree with you: "donc" can have other meanings but not that of "quand même"; since you are talking of something in a more sustained vein, you're talking of a semantic equivalent and that, "donc" is not. The source you give does not mention anything about a meaning even near to that of "quand même". As concerns the tenses, I believe both are possible without much difference in general meaning; however, I do think along with you that it's better to keep close to the tense in the sample to translate as much as possible. – LPH May 22 '19 at 09:42
Well, I can't say you are wrong, it was the first thing that came to my mind when I wrote it. The sentence is not incorrect though. The meaning is slightly different but the result is the same. "Tu ne comprendras donc jamais" is basically "Tu ne comprendras jamais" with extra emphasis. "Quand même" is there to make the relation with the previous idea – Kilarn123 May 22 '19 at 09:53

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered May 22 '19 at 08:13

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“Tu ne comprendrais quand même jamais.”

Is incorrect in French, I would rather say:

“Tu ne comprendras donc jamais.”

That can be translated as:

So you'll never understand.

answered May 22 '19 at 08:13

Ced

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Could I say “tu ne comprendras quand même jamais”? Or that doesn’t work either? – tssmith2425 May 22 '19 at 08:20
I'm sorry but no you can't, you can either say "Tu ne comprendras jamais." or "Tu ne comprendras donc jamais." – Ced May 22 '19 at 08:28

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered May 22 '19 at 09:05

"Quand même" expresses the disregard of a condition, order, principle, etc. that has been previously stated, the happening of something in spite of adversity, contrary conditions, etc. "Donc" cannot be assimilated with "quand même" ;"donc" is a word meant to express a consequence. However, it's perfectly correct to use "quand même" before "jamais".

Tu ne comprendrais quand même jamais.
You wouldn't ever understand anyway., You wouldn't understand anyway, ever.

A good paraphrase for "quand même" is "de toute façon", which rhymes well with the English "anyway".

Tu ne comprendrais de toute façon jamais.

There is the possibilité to front this adverbial locution or to reject it at the end after a comma ;

De toute façon, tu ne comprendrais jamais. _ Tu ne comprendrais jamais, de toute façon

“Quand même” to mean “anyway”

4 Answers4