![]() |
|
| Share / Tweet / Pin Me! | |
Essential French Expression
| Meaning | ok, that works (in a restaurant) coming up |
|
| Literally | that runs | |
| Register | normal / informal | |
| Pronunciation | [sah marsh] | |
| IPA | [sa maʀʃ] | |
Usage notes: Ça marche is a handy little expression that you can use to acknowledge or agree with someone.
Par exemple…
| – On va partir à midi. – Ça marche ! |
– We’re leaving at noon. – That works! |
|
| – Il faut que tu apportes du vin. – Ça marche ! |
– You need to bring some wine. – OK! |
|
| – On peut parler ici. – Ça marche. |
– We can talk here. – OK, that works. |
You can use it with the preposition pour:
Par exemple…
| Ça marche pour la semaine prochaine. | Next week is fine, Next week works. | |
| Ça marche pour toi ? | Does that work for you? |
When you place an order, waiters and store clerks might acknowledge it with ça marche:
Par exemple…
| – Je vais prendre les pâtes, s’il vous plaît. – Ça marche. |
– I’ll have the pasta, please. – That works, Coming right up. |
|
| – Je veux commander ce livre. – Ça marche. |
– I’d like to order this book. – You got it. |
Ça marche can also be used literally:
Par exemple…
| Comment ça marche ? | How does it work? | |
| Ça marche à la vapeur. | It works / runs on steam. |
Related lessons
- Marcher conjugations
- Ça and other indefinite demonstrative pronouns
- Many ways to say “yes” in French
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!




When a word ending in a normally silent consonant is followed by a vowel or h muet, that consonant might be transferred onto the next word. This is called a liaison and it’s one of the aspects of French pronunciation that can make it difficult to determine where one word ends and the next begins.
Aller is one of the most common and important French verbs. It generally means “to go,” is key to the near future construction, and is also found in many expressions. This issue of Lawless French à fond takes an in-depth look at going everywhere with 

