Learn how to ask about well-being
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| Welcome to Can-Do French by FrenchPod101.com. |
| In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask about well-being in French. |
| For example, "How are you?" is |
| Comment ça va ? |
| Constance Collin is in the office breakroom. |
| She greets Paul Petit , a colleague, and asks about his well-being. |
| Before you listen to the conversation, let's preview some of its key components. |
| bien |
| "fine" |
| bien |
| bien |
| Listen to the conversation and focus on the question. |
| Ready? |
| Comment ça va ? |
| Ça va bien, merci. |
| Once more with the English translation. |
| Comment ça va ? |
| "How are you?" |
| Ça va bien, merci. |
| "I'm fine, thank you." |
| Let's break down the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Constance asks Paul , |
| "How are you?" |
| Comment ça va ? |
| First is Comment, meaning "how." Comment. Comment. |
| Next is ça, "it" ça. ça. |
| Finally, va, "goes" va. va. |
| Va is from the verb aller, meaning "to go." Aller. |
| All together, it's Comment ça va? This literally means "How it goes?" But it translates as, "How are you?" |
| Comment ça va ? |
| Note the rising intonation of the sentence to mark that it's a question. Comment ça va ? |
| Let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Paul says, |
| "I’m fine, thank you." |
| Ça va bien, merci. |
| "I’m fine, thank you." Ça va bien, merci. |
| First is ça va, literally "It goes." ça va. Ça va. |
| Next is the word, bien, meaning "fine” or “well” Bien. Bien. |
| Together, it’s “ça va bien”. Literally, "It goes well," but translates as "I’m fine," or "I’m well." ça va bien. |
| Next is, merci, meaning "Thank you." merci. merci. |
| All together, it’s Ça va bien, merci. "I’m fine, Thank you." |
| Ça va bien, merci. |
| Note the question, Comment ça va ? is more used in formal situations. |
| For informal situations, you can simply remove “comment.” Ça va ? |
| Since the question is similar to the answer, you will need to stress the question with a rising intonation. |
| Ça va ? |
| When using formal French, Comment allez-vous ? "How are you?" Comment allez-vous ? |
| Imagine you’re Sadia Simon , Constance Collin’s French teacher. Use the formal expression for "How are you?" |
| Comment allez-vous ? |
| "How are you?" |
| Comment allez-vous ? |
| This is the most formal and most common expression. It can be used safely with anyone in any situation. |
| An extremely common way to ask about someone’s well being is the phrase: |
| Ça va ? How are you? Ça va ? |
| Ça va ? is a shortened form of Comment ça va ? |
| The usual response to “ça va ?” is “ça va”. |
| Listen to the following exchange: |
| Ça va ? |
| Ça va. Ça va ? |
| Ça va. |
| The intonation makes the difference between the question and the answer. |
| Let's look at some more examples. |
| Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers. |
| Comment ça va ? |
| Ça va bien, merci. |
| Comment ça va ? |
| "How are you?" |
| Ça va bien, merci. |
| "I'm fine, thank you." |
| Comment ça va ? |
| Ça va très bien. |
| Comment ça va ? |
| "How are you?" |
| Ça va très bien. |
| "I'm very good." |
| Comment allez-vous ? |
| Constance Collin Ça va bien. |
| Comment allez-vous ? |
| "How are you?" |
| Constance Collin Ça va bien. |
| "I'm fine." |
| Ça va ? |
| Ça va. |
| Ça va ? |
| "How are you doing?" |
| Ça va. |
| "I'm fine." |
| Comment ça va ? |
| Ça va bien. Et vous ? |
| Comment ça va ? |
| "How are you?" |
| Ça va bien. Et vous ? |
| "I'm fine. And you?" |
| Did you notice how the last speaker added the phrase Et vous ? |
| Ça va bien. Et vous? |
| "I’m fine. And you?" |
| First is et. "And." Et. Et. |
| Next is vous, a formal word meaning "you." vous. vous. |
| All together, it’s Et vous? meaning "And you?" Et vous? |
| You can use this phrase to reciprocate the question when someone asks you about your well being. |
| For example, if someone says, |
| Comment ça va ? |
| You can answer the question, then inquire about the other person’s well being with Et vous ? "And you?" Et vous ? |
| Note: vous, "you," is formal. For informal situations, you can replace the vous with toi. |
| Et toi ? “And you?” Et toi ? |
| Let's review the key words and phrases. |
| très. "Very." très. très |
| Et. "And." Et. Et. |
| Vous. formal "You." vous. vous. |
| Tu. informal "You." tu. tu. |
| Let's review. |
| Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Ready? |
| Do you remember the word for "how?" |
| Comment. |
| Comment. |
| And do you remember how Constance Collin asks, |
| "How are you?" |
| Comment ça va ? |
| Comment ça va ? |
| Do you remember how to say "fine?" |
| Bien. |
| Bien. |
| And how to say |
| "I’m fine." |
| Ça va bien. |
| Ça va bien. |
| Do you remember how to say |
| "Thank you." |
| Merci. |
| Merci. |
| Do you remember how Paul Petit says, |
| "I'm fine, thank you." |
| Ça va bien, merci. |
| Ça va bien, merci. |
| Do you remember the formal way to say, |
| “How are you?” |
| Comment allez-vous ? |
| Comment allez-vous ? |
| Do you remember the informal way to say, |
| “How are you?” |
| Ça va ? |
| Ça va ? |
| Let's practice. |
| Imagine you're Constance's colleague, Paul Petit. Ask how Constance is doing. |
| Ready? |
| Comment ça va ? |
| Constance Collin Ça va très bien. |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Comment ça va ? |
| Comment ça va ? |
| Let’s try another. |
| Imagine you're the Collin family's teacher, Sadia Simon. Ask about Christope's well being using formal French. |
| Ready? |
| Comment allez-vous ? |
| Ça va bien. |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Comment allez-vous ? |
| Comment allez-vous ? |
| Let’s try one more. |
| Imagine you're Corentin Collin , and you meet your friend at school. Ask how she's doing using informal French. |
| Ready? |
| Ça va ? |
| Ça va. |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Ça va ? |
| Ça va ? |
| Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Ask About Well-Being unit of this course. |
| Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills. |
| What's next? |
| Show us what you can do. |
| When you're ready, take your assessment. |
| You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like. |
| Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results. |
| Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson! |
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