c’est la vie
The English phrase "such is life" can be translated into French as c’est la vie. Wiktionary also lists la vie est ainsi faite.
Meaning: used to express the acceptance of misfortune (phrase)
Ways to say it
| French |
|---|
| c’est la vie |
| la vie est ainsi faite |
Both c’est la vie and la vie est ainsi faite are used to express a sense of resignation or fatalism when something goes wrong or does not go as planned.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase c’est la vie literally translates to "it is the life".
Which one should you use?
While both phrases express the same sentiment, la vie est ainsi faite (which means "life is thus made") is a more formal and slightly more literary way to express this than c’est la vie.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
c’est la vie is a colloquial, everyday way to express this sentiment in spoken French. For more informal alternatives, you might use C'est comme ça to mean "That's how it is" or Ça fait partie de la vie to mean "It's part of life".
Did you know?
- While English speakers use c’est la vie to sound worldly, a French person saying it might actually seem dismissive. Depending on the tone, using this phrase to respond to a problem can come across as being too fatalistic or uncaring about the situation.
- In the phrase la vie est ainsi faite, the word est is a spelling oddity. Apart from its use in the name of 'Jésus-Christ', it is the only modern French word where a silent internal 's' is preserved in the written form.
- The formal version la vie est ainsi faite contains the word ainsi, which is a linguistic cousin to the Spanish word 'así' and the Italian word 'così'. All three words originate from the same Latin roots meaning 'thus'.
Examples in context
- C’est la vie.Such is life.This sentence is useful for seeing the use of c’est la vie.Tatoeba #10676421 by AutoBot, translation #638732 by shekitten
- Nous avons fait tout notre possible pour résoudre ce problème, mais il reste insoluble. Ainsi va la vie.We have done everything we can to solve this problem, but it remains unsolvable. Such is life.
- Malgré tous nos efforts, nous n'avons pas réussi à atteindre nos objectifs. C'est la vie.Despite all our efforts, we didn't manage to achieve our goals. Such is life.
- Je suis déçu d'avoir échoué à cet examen, mais c'est comme ça, il faut l'accepter.I'm disappointed to have failed this exam, but that's how it is, we have to accept it.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “such is life” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ainsi, est, la, vie, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
