You’ve probably already learnt one of the meanings of évident: “obvious” or “evident.” Informally, évident can take on another meaning in French when it’s used in the informal expression c’est pas évident.
C’est pas évident de se faire des amis.
C’est pas évident de trouver la solution.
C’est pas évident de parler de ça.
Informally, if something is pas évident, it’s not easy. In the examples above, pas évident means the same thing as difficile or pas facile.
C’est pas is an informal way of saying ce n’est pas. You’ll come across c’est pas fairly frequently in spoken, informal French.
If you hear someone say c’est pas évident followed by nothing else, this can simply mean “it’s not easy” or “that’s not easy.” It could also translate to “it’s difficult” or “that’s difficult.”
C’est pas évident!
It’s not easy!
[This entry was inspired by the character Louis in Les Parent, “Blues d’automne,” season 3, episode 7, Radio-Canada, Montreal, 25 October 2010.]
