 |
|
| Share / Tweet / Pin Me! | |
Comment allez-vous ? Bien.
Before you dive into a conversation, it’s nice to exchange a few pleasantries. Greetings are first, of course, and then if you know the person, it’s typical to ask how they are. There are a number of different French expressions, depending on your relationship with the people you’re talking to and how many there are.
How are you?
There are various ways to ask the basic question "How are you?" depending on the person(s) you’re addressing. (See Tu vs vous for more info.)
How are you? (one or more people you use vous with)
How are you? (more than one person you use tu with)
- Comment allez-vous ?
- Vous allez bien ?
- Comment ça va ?
- Ça va ? (learn more)
How are you? (one person you use tu with)
- Comment vas-tu ?
- Tu vas bien ?
- Comment ça va ?
- Ça va ?
How’s it going? What’s new? (informal)
- Quoi de neuf ? (learn more)
- Qu’est-ce que tu racontes de beau ?
What’s up? (familiar)
- Ça baigne ?
- Ça bouge ?
- Ça gaze ?
- Ça roule ?
- Ça av ? (verlan)
I’m fine
Depending on the situation, you can offer a real answer (with friends, you might talk about feelings, work, family, travel, etc.), but most of the time, you’ll just want to respond with a French equivalent of "fine":
- Bien / Je vais bien.
- Ça va / Ça va bien / Oui, ça va.
You can also tack et toi ? (and you?) on the end. In fact, sometimes friends will just respond et toi ? without actually answering the original query.
Related features
French for beginners
Self-study checklist with lessons, quizzes, and comprehension exercises.
En español
In italiano
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!
This free website is created with love and a great deal of work. If you love it, please consider making a 
The mountain of French verb conjugations you have to learn can be overwhelming – even just in the classroom where you have plenty of time to think about the correct response. Once you start talking to people in the real world, trying to figure out the appropriate verb conjugation can leave you speechless – literally. So what’s the solution? Learn, then practice, practice, practice!
Inverting subjects and verbs is easy enough – vous voyez => voyez-vous, but where do object, adverbial, and reflexive pronouns go? And what about negation? Take a look at this lesson to learn about all the possibilities.
Magnetic poetry is a fun little tool you can use to learn and practice French. 500 magnets with words and parts of words help you to express yourself in a unique and creative way.