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🆅 Ça va ? – How are you?

Comment demander (et répondre !) Comment allez-vous en français ?


How to ask (and answer!) How are you in French?

How are you in French

A1

Vocabulary

10 minutes

Écrit par / Written by: Anthony Lucas

Dernière révision / Last update: 10 April 2024

Important information before even starting to learn how to ask How are you in French: French language uses the verb aller (to go) to express how one is doing.

So you mustn’t say in French: “Comment tu es ?” or “Comment vous êtes ?” as a direct translation from English.

Learning how to conjugate the verb aller will be very useful, starting with asking someone how they’re doing.

Questions possibles – How to ask “How are you?” in French

The most common question is:

🇫🇷 French🇬🇧 English
Ça va ?Literal translation: Is it going?
Meaning: Is everything ok?

But there are different ways of asking someone how one is doing, depending on:

  • the kind of question you are using (est-ce que, rising tone or inversion subject-verb)
  • using tu or vous to talk to the person

Should you say “tu” or “vous” when talking to a French person? Read the lesson about how to choose between “tu” and “vous”

Comment tu vas/vous allez ? (question personnelle) – How are you? (personal question)

How are you in French using “tu”:

🇫🇷 French🇬🇧 English
Comment tu vas ?How are you? (informal)
Tu vas comment ?How are you? (informal)
Comment est-ce que tu vas ?How are you? (informal)
Comment vas-tu ?How are you? (informal)

How are you in French using “vous”:

🇫🇷 French🇬🇧 English
Comment vous allez ?How are you? (formal)
Vous allez comment ?How are you? (formal)
Comment est-ce que vous allez ?How are you? (formal)
Comment allez-vous ?How are you? (formal)

Comment ça va ? (en général) – How is it going? (in general)

🇫🇷 French🇬🇧 English
Comment ça va ?How is it going?
Comment est-ce que ça va ?How is it going?
Ça va comment ?How is it going?

Réponses possibles – Possible answers to how are you in French

Fun way for ask how are you in French

“Ça roule ma poule !”

🇫🇷 “Ça roule ma poule” est une façon familière et amusante de demander ou répondre que tout va bien.
Cette expression se rapproche des expressions en anglais : “That works for me!”, “Sure thing!” or “No worries!”


🇬🇧 “Ça roule ma poule” is a familiar and amusing way of asking or answering that everything is fine.
This expression is similar to “That works for me!”, “Sure thing!” or “No worries!”.

🇫🇷 French🇬🇧 English
Ça va !OK! / Fine!
Je vais bien, merci.I’m fine, thanks.
Pas mal !Not bad!
Bien.Well.
Très bien.Very well.
Pas top !
(informal)
Not great!
Pas génial !
(informal)
Not great!
Pas super !
(informal)
Not great!
Ça roule !
(informal)
It is going well!
Et toi ?What about you?
(informal)
Et vous ?What about you?
(formal)

À RETENIR

WORTH REMEMBERING

Asking correctly How are you? in French can be tricky, mainly because you can be either tu or vous.

The most common sentence is definitely “Ça va ?“.

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