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We are going to teach you all the things you ever wanted to know about the basic phrase “C’est pas grave”.
It includes a complete explanation of what it is and how to use it in a dialogue with an audio example. And also the useful things we added like slow pronunciation audio, dialogue example and more!
Finally, on this page you can find our others phrases explained plus all our French words explained on this page. Wishing you a happy learning!
It literally means:
“C’est pas grave” is the French way of saying “No problem“, “Don’t worry about it“, “It’s not serious” or “That doesn’t matter“.
It’s a very popular expression that we use to reassure someone after something happened. Typically: to minimize an issue, clearing up a misunderstanding or to reassure about our wellness after an unfortunate event.
Let’s see some examples!
Scenario 1: your boss tells you that you will have to work on Sunday and want to be sure you are ok with that. You can answer: “Oui, c’est pas grave, je serai là.” (Yes, don’t worry about it, I will be there). Or “N’y pense même pas, dimanche je dors.” (Don’t even think about it, on Sunday I’m sleeping.) But that’s another story…
Scenario 2: you are falling off stairs and then someone comes to ask you if you are ok. You might say: “C’est pas grave, je vais bien.” (It’s not serious/Don’t worry about it, I’m fine)
Note that the full version is actually “Ce n’est pas grave” but we don’t use it much. There is already the negation “pas“, so it sounds redundant for us to say “Ce n’est” (” n’ ” is adding a negation) and then we shorten it into “C’est“. (Saving one syllable: yay!)
You can also use the super short version “Pas grave“, people will understand with context, but don’t forget that it’s more informal.
There is an infinite number of synonyms, here are the most used ones:
Neutral
Informal
