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Informal French Expression
Meaning | how about that, my goodness | |
Literally | that then | |
Register | informal | |
Pronunciation | ![]() |
[sah ah luhr] |
IPA | [sa a lɔʀ] |
Don’t contract the two words into [sa lɔʀ] – both a’s must be pronounced separately with a tiny pause between them.
Usage notes: Ça alors is an exclamative French phrase that can indicate any of a variety of medium-strong reactions: pleasure, incredulity, indignation, etc. It doesn’t really mean anything in and of itself, but rather draws attention to what comes next, or reacts to what was just said.
Par exemple…
– Nous allons faire le tour du monde. – Ça alors, c’est formidable ! |
– We’re going to take a trip around the world. – How about that! / Hey, that’s great! |
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– La femme de Christian l’a viré. – Ça alors, je lui avait dit d’arrêter ses aventures ! |
– Christian’s wife kicked him out. – Well, really, I told him to stop fooling around! |
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Ça alors ! Je n’ai jamais vu une voiture si compliquée. | My goodness! I’ve never seen such a complicated car. |
Somewhat synonymous
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