pas vu, pas pris – Mot du Jour

pas vu, pas pris – Mot du jour

not seen, not caught – French expression

What does ” pas vu pas pris ” mean? How do you say ‘unpunished ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com.

pas vu, pas pris – not seen not caught – In everyday French, pas vu, pas pris – with or without a comma – means that a crime, or a petty crime remained unpunished. I translate it here literally by “not seen not caught”, but I welcome any better wording. Leave a comment below if you have a suggestion.

« Ils avaient piqué le collier dans la vitrine : mais “pas vus, pas pris”, ils sont donc sortis de la bijouterie sans problème ! »
- “They had stolen the necklace in the display case: but “not seen not caught”, so they left the jewelry store without any problem!”