Everything about the French idiom "C'est du gâteau"

You are in the right place to learn all the things you want to know about the basic French expression "C'est du gâteau". It includes a complete explanation of what it is and how you can use it in a conversation with an audio example. Plus, we also added some useful things like dialogue example, synonyms, slow pronunciation audio and more!

English translation

Translation : It's easy
Literal meaning : It's a piece of cake
Register : Informal - Basic

Pronunciation example

Slow

Normal

IPA : / sɛ dy ɡato /

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What does c'est du gâteau mean?

Definition

C'est → It's
Du gâteau→ Some cake

What's easier than cooking a simple cake, or buying a piece of cake at the bakery? Unfortunately, not many things...

That's why we use the expression "C'est du gâteau" when talking about something very simple, easy or obvious. This expression is basically a more informal and funny way to say to someone "It's super simple".

How to use it

When you want to express the idea of "It's super easy" in French, you can go with the classic ways like "C'est très facile" (It's super easy) or "C'est vraiment simple" (It's really simple) for neutral or formal situations.

But if you want to make it funnier in informal situations, you can use instead: "C'est du gâteau" which literally means "It's some cake" and has the same meaning as "It's a piece of cake" in English.

Synonyms

C'est très simple. ("It's very simple")
C'est vraiment simple. ("It's really simple")
C'est enfantin. ("It's childish")
C'est bête comme chou. ("It's stupid like cabbage")
C'est pas la mer à boire. ("It's not the sea to drink")
C'est simple comme bonjour. ("It's as simple as hello")
C'est simple comme tout. ("It's as simple as everything")
C'est simple comme Baptiste. ("It's as simple as Baptiste")(French name)

Example in a dialogue with audio

Dialogue

C'est dur d'apprendre le Français ?

Is it hard to learn French?

Non. C'est du gâteau

No. It's a piece of cake*

Je commence aujourd'hui alors !

I'm starting right now then!