'C'est pas rien': Why nothing is a powerful word in French

What do you reply when someone says merci? Do you respond with the expression de rien? 

As English speakers, we are used to replying to a thank-you with ‘you’re welcome’, so it can feel rather insulting to respond to gratitude by telling the other person that ‘it’s nothing’.

But nothing is everywhere in French. Who hasn’t heard of the iconic Edith Piaf song from 1956, Je ne regrette rien? In this, she insists that she truly regrets rien de rien - nothing of nothing, nothing at all, nothing whatsoever. That’s a whole lot of nothing.

Occasionally, people will use it as a noun (‘a nothing’). It could be that a purchase cost next to nothing – cela ne m’a coûté un rien – or that a person gets angry over the slightest thing – il s'énerve pour un rien!

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Express yourself

And you might also have heard ça ne fait rien, which is an expression to reassure another person that something is no bother at all. 

Originally cela ne fait rien de mal (it does no harm), these days you tend to hear a very rapid ‘sa-fay rien’.

Another common expression is ce n’est pas rien, often shortened to c’est pas rien.

Taken literally, this means ‘it is not nothing’, but in real terms this idiom is used where we might say ‘that’s no mean feat’ or ‘it’s not to be sniffed at’. For example: "Ils m’ont proposé 100€ pour une heure de travail." 

"Ah, bon? C’est pas rien, ça!" 

Meaning: "They offered me 100€ for one hour’s work." 

"Really? That’s not to be sniffed at!"

However, if you hear rien à faire, listen carefully. A person claiming je n’ai rien à faire has nothing to do; but a person who says je n’en ai rien à faire, moi is telling you they couldn’t care less, it’s nothing to do with them.

And I am particularly fond of c’est trois fois rien, which is three lots of nothing. If someone tells you that you’re worrying about three lots of nothing, you can probably stop worrying!