C’est pas donné

Ce n'est pas donné
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Informal French Expression

Meaning It’s not cheap
Literally It’s not given (away for free)
Register informal
Pronunciation French sound files [say pah duh nay]
IPA   [se pa dɔ ne]

Usage notes: C’est pas donné* is an understated way of saying that something is expensive.

Par exemple…

Vivre à Paris, c’est pas donné.   Living in Paris isn’t cheap.
500 € pour ça ? C’est pas donné !   €500 for that? Pricy!

Variation

  • ce n’est pas donné*

Synonyms

  • cher
  • coûteux
  • élevé
  • raide

French antonymAntonyms

 Confusingly, c’est pas donné can also mean "it’s not easy." In this case, it’s shortened from the expression Ce n’est pas donné à tout le monde, meaning "Not everyone can do it, It’s not that easy to do." A synonym for this expression is c’est pas gagné.

* It’s very common for the ne in ne … pas to be dropped in informal French.

 Related lessons

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C'est pas donné

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