Organiser sa cuisine avec bocaux et boîtes

What does “ne pas être donné” mean in French?

In French, when something is expensive, people say it n’est pas donné — “it is not given away.” The idea is simple: a very cheap thing feels almost like a gift, so a pricey thing is “not given.” You hear this expression everywhere in everyday French. French speakers often use it as a softer alternative to c’est cher (“it’s expensive”).

In this kitchen-organising video, the host explains why she chose plastic boxes for her drawers instead of glass jars: “comme les récipients en verre ne sont quand même pas donnés... j’ai acheté des boîtes en plastique” — “since glass containers are not exactly cheap, I bought plastic boxes.” The phrase ne sont pas donnés is doing the job of “are not cheap.” The base is the verb donner (“to give”). In the negative, donné (“given”) flips to mean “very cheap.” So c’est donné can mean “it is very cheap / almost free,” and ce n’est pas donné means the opposite: “it is not cheap.” The adjective agrees with the noun: pas donné, pas donnée, pas donnés, pas données. A few everyday examples: “Le loyer à Paris, ce n’est pas donné” — “Rent in Paris is not cheap.” “À ce prix-là, c’est donné !” — “At that price, it is almost free!” One extra note: c’est pas donné can also mean “it is not easy,” short for ce n’est pas donné à tout le monde (“not everyone can do it”) — but in a shopping or price context, it always means “not cheap.”