<p><strong>其实也没什么</strong> literally means "in fact, there is nothing".
其实 = in fact
也没 = not quite
什么 = something. ->也没什么 = "there's nothing"</p>

<p>The reason why Chinese is hard is because of its high flexibility. As the previous answer indicated, this phrase skipped something.</p>

<p>"(其实也)没什么" usually connects with "大不了的(a big deal)", "了不起的(amazing, extraordinary)", or other phrases/words with feelings (e.g.: "没什么好玩/吃的" = "There's (or that's) nothing fun/delicious at all"). The reason why this should be interpreted as "没什么了不起的/大不了的 (there's nothing extraordinary/big at all)" is because of the context. </p>

<p><strong><em>讲一个我朋友的故事，他10多年前开这个车。没错，松花江小面。</em></strong> Translation: "(I'm gonna) tell a story of my friend, he used to drive this car more than ten years ago. That's right, a van made by SongHuaJiang (manufacter)."</p>

<p>This van is currently almost obsolete, and this van is very cheap in China, and I would say it is one of the cheapest car in China. However, it is hard to own a car many years ago when people were not that rich, so it was a great honor to have a car at that time, even a car so cheap with a bad quality.</p>

<p><strong><em>10多年前有个车还算不错了。可这个朋友有个癖好，就是喜欢去五星级酒店或者饭店品茶，吃个早点。</em></strong> Translation: It is not bad to have a car more than 10 years ago. However, this friend had a fondness - always likes to go to 5-star hotels to have some tea and breakfast.</p>

<p>Therefore, this is a contrast - although his friend owned a car at that time, which is not easy at that time, this car is not a good car at all and he still go to 5-star hotels and eat breakfast (which indicates that this friend was showing off). Therefore, he would say that "It's not something extraordinary".</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-09T19:02:07.893Z
2018-05-09T19:02:07.893Z
zhxq
<p>其实也没什么 implies 其实也没什么(了不起) </p>

<p>其实(actually) 也没(not quite) 什么 (something) <em>了不起 (amazing)</em></p>

<p>That was not a great car worth mentioning, but back then, having any car was quite a feat</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-09T15:26:28.607Z
2018-05-09T15:26:28.607Z
Tang Ho
<p>Link is <a href="https://www.zhihu.com/question/35518652" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> (7th answer from the top), and here's the context:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>讲一个我朋友的故事，他10多年前开这个车。(image)
  没错，松花江小面。<strong>其实也没什么</strong>，10多年前有个车还算不错了。可这个朋友有个癖好，就是喜欢去五星级酒店或者饭店品茶，吃个早点。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Can anyone explain the grammar, meaning and usage of this phrase? Thanks in advance!</p>

<translation>
What does 其实也没什么 mean?
# What does 其实也没什么 mean?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-05-09)

Link is [here](https://www.zhihu.com/question/35518652) (7th answer from the top), and here's the context:

> 讲一个我朋友的故事，他10多年前开这个车。(image)
> 没错，松花江小面。**其实也没什么**，10多年前有个车还算不错了。可这个朋友有个癖好，就是喜欢去五星级酒店或者饭店品茶，吃个早点。

Can anyone explain the grammar, meaning and usage of this phrase? Thanks in advance!

**Tags:** translation


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-05-09. Score: 2

**其实也没什么** literally means "in fact, there is nothing".
其实 = in fact
也没 = not quite
什么 = something. ->也没什么 = "there's nothing"

The reason why Chinese is hard is because of its high flexibility. As the previous answer indicated, this phrase skipped something.

"(其实也)没什么" usually connects with "大不了的(a big deal)", "了不起的(amazing, extraordinary)", or other phrases/words with feelings (e.g.: "没什么好玩/吃的" = "There's (or that's) nothing fun/delicious at all"). The reason why this should be interpreted as "没什么了不起的/大不了的 (there's nothing extraordinary/big at all)" is because of the context.

***讲一个我朋友的故事，他10多年前开这个车。没错，松花江小面。*** Translation: "(I'm gonna) tell a story of my friend, he used to drive this car more than ten years ago. That's right, a van made by SongHuaJiang (manufacter)."

This van is currently almost obsolete, and this van is very cheap in China, and I would say it is one of the cheapest car in China. However, it is hard to own a car many years ago when people were not that rich, so it was a great honor to have a car at that time, even a car so cheap with a bad quality.

***10多年前有个车还算不错了。可这个朋友有个癖好，就是喜欢去五星级酒店或者饭店品茶，吃个早点。*** Translation: It is not bad to have a car more than 10 years ago. However, this friend had a fondness - always likes to go to 5-star hotels to have some tea and breakfast.

Therefore, this is a contrast - although his friend owned a car at that time, which is not easy at that time, this car is not a good car at all and he still go to 5-star hotels and eat breakfast (which indicates that this friend was showing off). Therefore, he would say that "It's not something extraordinary".


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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-05-09. Score: 0

其实也没什么 implies 其实也没什么(了不起)

其实(actually) 也没(not quite) 什么 (something) *了不起 (amazing)*

That was not a great car worth mentioning, but back then, having any car was quite a feat


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