Example: Pas maintenant, je dois finir mes devoirs d'abord.
Definition
"Pas maintenant" is a French expression meaning 'not now,' used to indicate that something should be postponed or delayed to a later time. It is commonly employed to refuse or delay an action or request politely, as in 'Pas maintenant, je dois finir mes devoirs d'abord.'
Translations
Not now
Ahora no
Nu niet
Ara no
Jetzt nicht
Etymology
The phrase "Pas maintenant" comes from French, where "pas" means 'not' and "maintenant" means 'now.' This construction follows a typical negation pattern in French. Did you know? The word "maintenant" originally comes from the Old French 'maintenant,' meaning 'holding by the hand,' which metaphorically evolved to mean 'at this moment.'
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"Pas maintenant" appears in the Vocaplus list "", containing 107 commonly used expressions.
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Not now