Asking People How They Are
Learn how to ask “How are you?” in French in everyday, formal, and informal situations. This lesson teaches natural phrases like comment ça va, ça va, and comment allez-vous.
1.3.1. The Main Idea
To ask how someone is in French, use ça va ?, comment ça va ?, or comment allez-vous ?
Ça va ? | How are you? / Is it going okay? informal |
Comment ça va ? | How are you? |
Comment tu vas ? | How are you? informal |
Comment allez-vous ? | How are you? formal / plural |
1.3.2. Informal Questions
Use these with friends, classmates, family, or people you know well.
Ça va ? | How are you? |
Comment ça va ? | How are you? |
Comment tu vas ? | How are you? |
Tu vas bien ? | Are you doing well? |
Ça va bien ? | Are things going well? |
1.3.3. Formal Questions
Use these with professors, strangers, workers, older people, or groups.
Comment allez-vous ? | How are you? formal / plural |
Vous allez bien ? | Are you doing well? formal / plural |
Comment ça va ? | How are you? neutral |
Ça va bien ? | Are things going well? neutral |
Bonjour, comment allez-vous ? | Hello, how are you? formal |
1.3.4. Positive Answers
Ça va bien. | I’m doing well. |
Très bien, merci. | Very well, thank you. |
Je vais bien. | I’m doing well. |
Tout va bien. | Everything is going well. |
Super ! | Great! informal |
Ça va très bien. | I’m doing very well. |
1.3.5. Neutral or Moderate Answers
Ça va. | I’m okay. / It’s going okay. |
Pas mal. | Not bad. |
Comme ci, comme ça. | So-so. |
Ça va assez bien. | I’m doing quite well. |
Bof. | Meh. very informal |
Je suis un peu fatigué. | I’m a little tired. masculine speaker |
Je suis un peu fatiguée. | I’m a little tired. feminine speaker |
1.3.6. Negative Answers
Ça ne va pas très bien. | I’m not doing very well. |
Ça ne va pas. | I’m not okay. |
Pas très bien. | Not very well. |
Je vais mal. | I’m doing badly. |
Je suis malade. | I’m sick. |
Je suis stressé. | I’m stressed. masculine speaker |
Je suis stressée. | I’m stressed. feminine speaker |
1.3.7. Asking Back
After answering, it is polite to ask the other person back.
Et toi ? | And you? informal |
Et vous ? | And you? formal / plural |
Et toi, ça va ? | And you, are you okay? informal |
Et vous, ça va ? | And you, are you okay? formal / plural |
Moi aussi. | Me too. |
Merci. | Thank you. |
1.3.8. Saying Why
Use parce que to explain how you feel.
Ça va bien parce que je suis content. | I’m doing well because I’m happy. masculine speaker |
Ça va bien parce que je suis contente. | I’m doing well because I’m happy. feminine speaker |
Je suis fatigué parce que j’ai beaucoup de devoirs. | I’m tired because I have a lot of homework. masculine speaker |
Je suis fatiguée parce que j’ai beaucoup de devoirs. | I’m tired because I have a lot of homework. feminine speaker |
Je suis stressé parce que j’ai un examen. | I’m stressed because I have an exam. masculine speaker |
Je suis stressée parce que j’ai un examen. | I’m stressed because I have an exam. feminine speaker |
1.3.9. Common Feeling Words
content | happy, masculine |
contente | happy, feminine |
fatigué | tired, masculine |
fatiguée | tired, feminine |
stressé | stressed, masculine |
stressée | stressed, feminine |
malade | sick |
occupé | busy, masculine |
occupée | busy, feminine |
triste | sad |
calme | calm |
bien | well |
mal | badly / not well |
1.3.10. Core Patterns
Ça va ? | How are you? |
Comment ça va ? | How are you? |
Comment tu vas ? | How are you? informal |
Comment allez-vous ? | How are you? formal / plural |
Ça va bien. | I’m doing well. |
Ça va. | I’m okay. |
Pas mal. | Not bad. |
Pas très bien. | Not very well. |
Et toi ? | And you? informal |
Et vous ? | And you? formal / plural |
1.3.11. Practice
How are you? informal | |
How are you? formal | |
Are you doing well? informal | |
I’m doing well. | |
Very well, thank you. | |
I’m okay. | |
Not bad. | |
Not very well. | |
I’m tired. masculine speaker | |
And you? formal |
1.3.12. Answers
How are you? informal | Ça va ? |
How are you? formal | Comment allez-vous ? |
Are you doing well? informal | Tu vas bien ? |
I’m doing well. | Ça va bien. |
Very well, thank you. | Très bien, merci. |
I’m okay. | Ça va. |
Not bad. | Pas mal. |
Not very well. | Pas très bien. |
I’m tired. masculine speaker | Je suis fatigué. |
And you? formal | Et vous ? |
1.3.13. Short Dialogue
A : Salut ! Ça va ? | A: Hi! How are you? |
B : Ça va bien, merci. Et toi ? | B: I’m doing well, thank you. And you? |
A : Pas mal. Je suis un peu fatigué. | A: Not bad. I’m a little tired. masculine speaker |
B : Pourquoi ? | B: Why? |
A : Parce que j’ai beaucoup de devoirs. | A: Because I have a lot of homework. |
1.3.14. Checkpoint
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to ask how someone is formally and informally, give positive, neutral, and negative answers, ask the question back, and explain briefly how you feel with parce que.
1.3.15. Try It Out
Try saying this in French:
How are you?
I’m doing well, thank you.
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Possible answer:
Previous lesson: 1.2. Comment tu t’appelles ?
Next lesson: 1.4. Au revoir
Back to: Module 1: Ça commence!