# c'est pas évident / ce n'est pas facile



## bellygroove99

'C'est pas évident' est une expression que je viens d'apprendre, et je voudrais savoir la difference entre çela et 'ce n'est pas facile', étant donné qu'ils ont la même définition. 
Merci


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## alexa99

Ce n'est pas évident can mean either "it's not obvious" or "it's not easy" depending on the context.
Ce n'est pas facile means "it's not easy"


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## wildan1

_C(e n')est pas évident_ is _It's not obvious_ (that it can be done, understood, etc.)

_C(e n')est pas facile_ is more generally _It's not easy_ (but could be more specifically _not obvious,_ depending on context


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## Wunibald

_Ce n'est pas évident _(or as you say more colloquially: _c'est pas évident_) is used to mean that there is no obvious way of doing something or solving a problem. If you're having difficulty doing a crossword puzzle for example you'd tend to use that expression rather than _Ce n'est pas facile_ which tends to be used in a more general way. They can often be used interchangeably though.


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## bellygroove99

Merci à tous


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## InnocentAbroad

I bit late in the day, but I've just come across this thread. For someone searching the archive for elucidation, it may help.

The best translation of "évident" in this context is "straightforward".  This exactly demonstrates the different between "obvious" and "easy".


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## Soleil_Couchant

*NEW POST ON OLD THREAD STARTS HERE Y'ALL*

Okay I hear this phrase a lot "ce n'est pas évident"... and for me the meaning itself is, well... "pas évident." Is there something more colloquial in English for this? I feel like I hear it used when the aforementioned meaning "that's not obvious/easy" would not make sense nor align 100%. That phrase itself sounds very awkward in English to me. No one ever says "that's not obvious/straightforward" in day-to-day speech.

So, could it be used to express the English idea of "That makes no sense!" or something along those lines? That's more how it seems to fit context-wise to me, but I could be mistaken.


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## Cigaloune

That makes no sense means that it is absurd, or that there is no logic, no meaning. Am i wrong?
C'est pas évident seems different to me.

Ex: avec 4 enfants et un travail à temps complet, c'est pas évident de trouver du temps pour soi. It's not easy?

Ex : cet exercice de maths est bien compliqué. Je n'y comprends pas grand chose.
- oui, c'est pas évident. ( idem)

Ex: -Il l'aime! Il a quitté son travail et déménagé pour elle.
-C'est pas évident. Il avait peut-être juste besoin de changer de vie. = it's not so obvious / I'm not so sure about it!


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## Soleil_Couchant

Hi Cigaloune, thanks for the response. I meant it as in "no logic/meaning" or "that's weird" ... not that it's absurd.

And okay, your *third *example. That's exactly the type of context where the response "c'est pas évident" doesn't make any sense to me. "It's not so obvious" in response to what you said doesn't mean anything to me in English. We'd never say that as a response and it's rare we'd ever even say "it's not so obvious" (if ever? I'm having a hard time thinking of any context for that. Maybe if you were to ask "How is she feeling?" "Well, she likes to hide her feelings; she doesn't make it very obvious how she feels." but that still is sort of weird)

And with your third example, that's the indeed type of context where you could perhaps say "Well, that [what you said] doesn't make much sense. Maybe he just wanted a change in his life..."

Or do you mean it like, "Your explanation of that seems like too much of a leap because one cannot really deduce what you said from just that information alone" lol?


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## Itisi

Expliquer 'c'est pas évident', c'est pas évident'...


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## Cigaloune

C'est pas évident rather expresses a doubt = I'm not so sure about it. You may be right. He may be in love with her. But there may be another explanation.


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## Soleil_Couchant

Aha, okay, so ... I still think saying "Hmm, that doesn't really make sense" could be a way to express a doubt about what the person just said. So I think I'm on the right page. Because we'd definitely never say "That's not obvious" to express a doubt about what someone just said. Jamaiiis. Thanks. I actually have a specific context example in my head right now but I can't share it (it was in a confidential session type thing yesterday). But trying to make a round peg fit into a square hole with that example is how I came up with "Hmm, that doesn't make much sense [to me]"...

Or, along the lines of what you said, maybe something like "Hm, I don't know about that..."


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## Esperluète

In everyday French most of the time “C’est pas évident” = it’s not (that) easy, it’s no mean feat, that's/it's a tall order etc. (as per Cigaloune’s examples in #8).

In some contexts (eg Cig’s 3rd example in #8), it can mean: “(try to put yourself in his/her shoes) it’s not that straightforward/clearcut/simple”.


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

Re Cigaloune's 3rd example, "That's not necessarily the case..." or simply "Not necessarily." ? / "Maybe, maybe not..."


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## Cigaloune

C'est pas évident. Expresses a slight doubt. 
That doesn't really make sense. Seems to me a really strong doubt.


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## Soleil_Couchant

Hm, okay, I'm blobbing all these things into my mind. I think I'm still trying to make these answers work for how I heard the other day which, to be vague, had to do with someone doing something that most people would know better not to do. So like, "This happened and I did this..." and the other responds "C'est pas evident..."   (Again, I can't get more specific than that.)


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## Cigaloune

Maybe something like "it's not easy to know what's best to do."  Or "The situation is difficult, and you acted this way because of it."
Meaning the situation was very unusual, you did something that normally people never do, but maybe you did it because the situation was extreme/required an unusual response???
It may show empathy / or it may show doubt.
It's really hard to try and interpret without the detailed context. I may be completely wrong.


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## Soleil_Couchant

It was interpreted as doubt or more along the lines of "what were you thinking," if that helps (so, hinting at accusatory vs empathetic). Maybe it was meant like "Well that's not the obvious thing most people would do" if we want to bring back "obvious" haha


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## Uncle Bob

It seems to me that "_Ce n'est pas évident_" can often be translated as "I don't know"  - a mild form of grandiloquence (not nearly as bad as "_dispositif_" for "thing").


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## Itisi

You could translate it as 'It's a tricky question/matter'  But there is no one-size-fits-all answer.


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## SKWI

Soleil_Couchant said:


> Hi Cigaloune, thanks for the response. I meant it as in "no logic/meaning" or "that's weird" ... not that it's absurd.
> 
> And okay, your *third *example. That's exactly the type of context where the response "c'est pas évident" doesn't make any sense to me. "It's not so obvious" in response to what you said doesn't mean anything to me in English. We'd never say that as a response and it's rare we'd ever even say "it's not so obvious" (if ever? I'm having a hard time thinking of any context for that. Maybe if you were to ask "How is she feeling?" "Well, she likes to hide her feelings; she doesn't make it very obvious how she feels." but that still is sort of weird)
> 
> And with your third example, that's the indeed type of context where you could perhaps say "Well, that [what you said] doesn't make much sense. Maybe he just wanted a change in his life..."
> 
> Or do you mean it like, "Your explanation of that seems like too much of a leap because one cannot really deduce what you said from just that information alone" lol?


Hi Soleil Couchant, "c'est pas evident" has bothered me for years and I resolved to take it to mean "Go figure" used with a whole lot of sarcasm and this is how I think Americans (especially younger ones) would treat Cigaloune's third example. Would you agree? I think you might not find a good translation with just words - intonation and delivery, an eye roll and a smirk - all important ingredients in language would also be required here.


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## Locape

Many examples given in the above posts work for 'c'est pas évident' :
- it's not easy
- I'm not so sure about it
- I don't know about that
- it's not that simple
- it's a tricky question/situation
It maybe sometimes mean 'go figure!' like SKWI said, but not often and not with a lot of sarcasm, even if you can say it with a smile. 
It's not 'that doesn't really make sense' ('c'est un peu n'importe quoi'), and I don't think it can be accusatory ; it's not really empathetic, it just shows concern, but not too much, you don't mean 'poor thing!'.
You can use it also if you have no idea what to say, when you really can't say 'I don't have a clue' or 'I don't care'.
And finally you can use it out of politeness, even if you disagree with that person, if you would do things differently, but you don't want to sound judgemental, you can say 'oui, c'est pas évident', even if you think 'no, you're wrong!'


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

Welcome, SKWI!


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## Itisi

I think 'it's tricky' covers all eventualities!


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## SKWI

ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> Welcome, SKWI!


Thank you, ain'ttranslationfun? 

"C'est pas evident" n'est pas vraiment evident, non?


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

SKWI said:


> Thank you, ain'ttranslationfun?
> 
> "C'est pas evident" n'est pas vraiment evident, non?



Là, je suis d'accord avec toi...et avec Itisi dans #10!


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## Aristide

Itisi said:


> I think 'it's tricky' covers all eventualities!


Oui, mais l'expression "c'est pas évident" est une litote, une "understatement". Si on traduit par tricky, on perd le côté litote. C'est pourquoi je préfère "it's not that simple", même si "pas si simple" n'a pas exactement la même saveur que "pas évident". Pour moi, l'expression "c'est pas évident" a quelque chose de cool et d'humoristique, comme souvent avec les litotes. Ainsi, on applique à une situation concrète généralement assez simple l'expression "pas évident", qui conviendrait plutôt aux raisonnements abstraits et compliqués : on intellectualise ! Et en utilisant une litote, on fait mine de sous-estimer la difficulté, car on se retient de dire que c'est terriblement compliqué. Mais en réalité, le plus souvent, on exagère la difficulté. C'est une fausse understatement.


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## Itisi

*Aristide*, I'm not entirely convinced by the above reasoning. And if you look at the examples given at #8, I don't think 'it's not that simple' would work. Besides, it lacks the cool element!  Perhaps there is no one suitable phrase...


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## Locape

'C'est pas évident' n'est pas toujours utilisé de manière cool et humoristique. Quand quelqu'un vous parle d'une chose préoccupante, mais que vous ne savez pas quoi lui répondre, vous dites d'un ton sérieux et concerné 'oui, c'est pas évident'. Je l'utilise aussi par politesse, ou pour montrer son intérêt ou même sa bienveillance. Donc on peut l'utiliser dans beaucoup de situations différentes.


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

Ou même pour indiquer sa frustration à ne pas pouvoir trouver une solution.


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