Dire « ce n’est pas grave » en français
A1 French listening practice · French · Curated for beginners
What does “c’est pas grave” mean in French?
Grave means serious, so ce n’est pas grave is literally “it isn’t serious” — and it is the standard French line for waving away a small mishap or an apology. Someone spills a drink, arrives late, or forgets your name, and this closes it. In speech the ne usually drops: c’est pas grave, sometimes trimmed all the way down to a bare pas grave.
The same word runs the other way in youth slang, where grave on its own works as an intensifier meaning “totally”: c’est grave bon, j’suis grave fatigué, or a flat grave as agreement. Near neighbours for the reassurance sense are ce n’est rien and il n’y a pas de mal, and ne t’en fais pas (“don’t worry about it”) often turns up in the same breath, as it does in this clip.