The French greeting “ça va” (pronounced sah-vah) in English literally means “it goes” or “that goes”. Ça va is used commonly in everyday informal French greetings. The translation of “Comment ça va?” is “How’s it going?”.
Ça va
Ça Va
How to to use ça va as a greeting
1. How’s it going?
When used as a greeting, “Ça va?” translates to “How’s it going?”. The question is eliciting a yes-no answer.
To ask how somebody is doing you ask, “Salut, ça va?”.
Salut, ça va?
Hi! How’s it going?
There are two possible yes-no answers to this question. If you’re doing you well, you cans say, “Oui, ça va, merci.”. This translates to “Fine, thank you”. A loose translation is “It’s going, thank you”.
Oui, ça va merci!
Fine, thank you!
You could also answer the question in the negation with “Non, ça ne vas pas”. This translates literally to “No, it’s not going”. A loose translation is “I’m not doing well”.
Non, ça ne va pas.
I’m not going well.
In the situation where you are really not doing well you can say: “Non, ca ne va pas du tout”. This translates literally to “No, it’s not going at all” and means “I’m really not doing well”.
2. How are you?
In a second situation, you can ask “Comment ça va?”. Here, rather than just asking “is it going” you’re really asking “How’s it going?” or more specifically “How are you doing?”
Comment ça va?
How are you? How’s it going?
To answer the question “Comment ça va?”, simply say “ça va” plus how you are doing. Here are some possible answers to “Comment ça va?”
Ça va bien, merci.
I’m doing well, thanks.
Ça va très bien, merci.
It’s going very well, thanks.
Ça va mal.
I’m not doing well.
Ça va comme ci, comme ça.
I’m so-so.
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Word of the Day lessons | Lessons by David Issokson
