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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] – each a must be pronounced separately with a tiny pause in between.
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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Is your French as rusty as an old can? Did you live in France years ago or study it in high school—and promptly forget everything upon leaving? The fact is that language ability fades with lack of practice. If you used to know French but haven’t spoken it in years or decades, the bad news is that it probably won’t come rushing back all at once. But the good news is that you can relearn it much more quickly than if you were starting out without that previous knowledge.
N’importe literally means “no matter” or “(it) doesn’t matter.” This indefinite expression can precede an interrogative adjective, adverb, or pronoun when talking about something indefinite or non-specific.