Ce problème est grave ? Pas du tout !

Ce is a demonstrative adjective, meaning this or that depending on context.

It is ce because:

• problème is masculine singular
• it begins with a consonant sound: p

French uses:

• ce before a masculine singular noun starting with a consonant: ce problème
• cet before a masculine singular noun starting with a vowel or silent h
• cette before a feminine singular noun

So:

• ce problème
• cet exercice
• cette question

Because grammatical gender in French is something each noun has to be learned with. Problème is simply a masculine noun: un problème.

This matters because it affects words around it, such as:

• articles: un problème
• demonstratives: ce problème
• adjectives in some cases

A useful habit is to learn nouns with their article, not by themselves. So learn un problème, not just problème.

This is a very common everyday way to ask a yes/no question in French: you keep normal statement word order and use intonation.

So:

• statement: Ce problème est grave.
• question: Ce problème est grave ?

This is natural in spoken French and very common in informal writing too.

More formal alternatives are:

• Est-ce que ce problème est grave ?
• Ce problème est-il grave ?

All three can mean the same thing, but the version in your sentence sounds the most conversational.

Yes. C'est grave ? is very common and means Is it serious?

The difference is mainly about how specific you want to be:

• Ce problème est grave ? = Is this problem serious?
• C'est grave ? = Is it serious?

If the problem has already been mentioned, C'est grave ? often sounds more natural and lighter.
Using ce problème is a bit more explicit because it repeats the noun.

Here grave means serious, severe, or important in a bad way.

So Ce problème est grave ? asks whether the problem is serious.

Common uses of grave include things like:

• une erreur grave = a serious mistake
• une maladie grave = a serious illness
• la situation est grave = the situation is serious

Be aware that in informal modern French, grave can also be used as slang to mean something like really or totally, but that is not what it means here.

Because grave is describing the subject through the verb être. This is the normal pattern:

• Ce problème est grave.
• Le film est long.
• La réponse est claire.

After être, the adjective comes after the verb.

This is different from using the adjective directly with a noun:

• un grave problème = a serious problem

So:

• ce problème est grave = this problem is serious
• un grave problème = a serious problem

Both are correct; they are just different sentence structures.

Pas du tout ! means Not at all!

It can stand alone because short answers in French often leave out words that are understood from the context. This is called ellipsis.

A fuller version might be:

• Non, pas du tout.
• Non, ce n'est pas grave du tout.

But in conversation, Pas du tout ! is completely natural by itself as a reply.

Yes, usually.

• Non. = No.
• Pas du tout ! = Not at all!

So pas du tout is more emphatic. In this sentence, it sounds reassuring, like:

• Is this problem serious?
• Not at all!

You can also combine them:

• Non, pas du tout !

That is very common.

Literally, du tout is not something you should try to translate word by word in a strict way. In modern French, pas du tout is best learned as a fixed expression meaning not at all.

You will often see du tout in negative expressions such as:

• Je ne comprends pas du tout. = I don't understand at all.
• Ce n'est pas grave du tout. = It's not serious at all.

So for learners, the safest approach is:
learn pas du tout as a whole chunk.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• Ce ≈ suh
• problème ≈ pro-blem with a French r
• est ≈ eh
• grave ≈ grav
• Pas du tout ≈ pah dy too

A few useful points:

• the s in pas is silent
• the t in est is silent here
• there is no liaison between est and grave because grave begins with a consonant sound

A more IPA-style pronunciation would be:

Ce problème est grave ? → /sə pʁɔ.blɛm ɛ ɡʁav/
Pas du tout ! → /pa dy tu/

Because standard French typography normally puts a space before certain punctuation marks, especially:

• ?
• !
• :
• ;

So grave ? and tout ! are standard in French writing.

In casual texting or online writing, people do not always follow this rule, but in correct written French, that space is normal.