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How to Say ‘It's nothing serious.’ in French

Ce n'est rien de grave.

suh n eh ree-en duh grahv

[suh n eh ree-en duh grahv]

💬 Usage Tip: Rien de plus a describing word means "nothing" of that kind. Swap it: rien de spécial "nothing special."

Phrase Breakdown

Ce n'est rien

suh n eh ree-en

It's nothing

'Ne... rien' means 'nothing'. Say 'suh neh ryan'.

Example

Ce n'est rien, ne t'inquiète pas.

It's nothing, don't worry.

Words in this phrase

[suh]

that

Masculine demonstrative determiner; combined with -là after the noun, it points to a specific moment away from now, meaning 'that'.

Example

Ce jour-là, le restaurant était complet.

That day, the restaurant was fully booked.

[n]

not (negation)

Shortened form of 'ne', the first part of a negation; with 'plus' it means 'no longer / no more'.

Example

Nous n'avons plus de place ce soir.

We have no more room tonight.

est

[eh]

Third person singular present of be.

Example

C'est important.

It is important.

rien

[ree-en]

nothing

Not anything; no single thing.

Example

Il n'y a rien ici.

There is nothing here.

de grave.

duh grahv

serious.

After 'rien', an adjective takes 'de' in front of it. Say 'duh grahv'.

Example

Rien de grave.

Nothing serious.

Words in this phrase

[duh]

(links 'rien' to adjective)

After 'rien', 'de' introduces the describing adjective.

Example

Il n'y a rien de nouveau.

There is nothing new.

grave

[grahv]

serious

Adjective meaning serious or severe, often about health.

Example

Ce n'est pas une maladie grave.

It's not a serious illness.

Guides for French learners

The Most Common French Verbs: the 20 You'll Actually UseThe 20 most common French verbs, with the present-tense forms you need, real example sentences with native audio, and two shortcuts for past and future.Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.

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