When you start learning a language, either for business or pleasure, it is important to know a few basics. Whether you are visiting a French-speaking country to attend a conference, enjoying a relaxing time by the beach or greeting your friend, being able to say ‘hi’ or ‘how are you’ in French is essential.
After all, everyone likes to be polite, and when you initiate a conversation with the locals in their native tongue, every interaction tends to run smoothly. To help you with that, in this article, you will learn how to say hi, ask people how they are doing and also reply to them in French.
Keep reading to find it out!
How to say ‘hi’ in French?
First things first… Before you need to ask ‘how are you’ in French, you must start the conversation. And to do that we usually use a greeting like ‘hi’ or ‘hello’, right? But how do you say it in French?
The simplest way possible is saying salut, which means hi or hello. This format is a casual way to greet friends, peers, or acquaintances. So you could say something like that to greet someone:
- Salut ! Hi/Hello!
- Salut, Sarah ! Hi/Hello, Sarah!
How to say ‘how are you’ in French?
Well, now that you are already familiar with the way you can start a conversation, it is time to learn how to say ‘how are you’ in French. There are several ways to inquire about someone’s well-being… Let’s check some out:
Comment ça va ?
This is perhaps the most standard and widely used way to ask ‘how are you’ in French. It translates directly to ‘How’s it going?’ and is suitable for both formal and informal situations.
Ça va ?
It is a shorter version of the phrase we have above. This is a more casual way of greeting people. It is like asking ‘You good?’, but it literally means ‘That’s going?’. It’s commonly used among friends in informal settings.
Ça roule ?
This expression is something like slang in French and is more commonly used among young people. Therefore, it is a very colloquial way of asking ‘how are things?’. Usually, you will hear close friends asking each other that.
Would you like to learn the pronunciation of these phrases? In the first episode of Season 1 of the Coffee Break French podcast, you can get more insight into them and also learn other useful phrases. Listen to it now:
How do you answer ‘how are you’ in French?
Very good! Now you already know how to say hi and ‘how are you’ in French. But how can you answer someone’s reply to your questions? In a casual situation, they will probably do it by adding et toi ?, which means what about you? at the end of their answer.
Let’s figure out some answers that people might give you and you might give them:
Ça va bien
This response translates to ‘I’m doing well’ and is a pretty straightforward way to reply in situations where you’re feeling good.
Ça va très bien
If you want to say you are doing even better, you can say ça va très bien. As expected, that means that things ‘are going very well’.
Je suis en forme
This is a more complex structure, but we will make it simpler for you. Je suis means ‘I am’ and en forme means ‘on form’. Therefore, with this statement, you say you are on form and feeling good.
In case learning more French is on your plans, be aware that ‘je suis’ is a very important phrase and you will come across it several times! After all, you use the structure ‘I am’ to express a lot of important things, like your nationality, your age and lots more.
Ça ne va pas
The same thing as ça va, isn’t it? But it means the complete opposite – ‘things aren’t going well’. You might have noticed that we have ‘ne …. pas’ in this case. We use these terms to make something negative in French.
Your French 101 session is over for today!
By learning how to say ‘hi’ and ‘how are you’ in French, you’ll be better equipped to initiate conversations and engage with French speakers. After all, it is not only a polite gesture but also an essential skill for effective communication.
Remember, language learning is a journey, and every word and phrase you learn brings you one step closer to fluency. So, practise these questions and responses and listen to the podcast we have in this blog post to improve your pronunciation.
And if you want to keep improving your basic vocabulary, check out this article on the different ways of greeting people in France depending on the time of day!
67 thoughts on “‘How are you’ in French: Learn how to say it!”
Thank you very much for this!
THANKS A WHOLE BUNCH! USEFUL 😀
I hope you have the next lessons related to the one before. Thanks again!
thanks alot – helps to pass my work time:))
Thanks a lot!!!
Merci !
5 Stars all the way!
thanks my first year of french !!! nd u takin it slow nd reviewing helps alot nd i learned some things we didnt earn in class!!!
not only i enjoy listening to the french words and expression… Mark’s scottish english is quite enjoyable to listen to as well. thanks guys good job.
Brilliant!!!! Merci beaucoup :o)
Hey guys thanks so much…. found it so easy to understand and follow. So much easier to try and memorise. AWESOME CLASS!
merci!
Is there a way I can download these free to my ipod like I can on itunes?
Problem with itunes, I don’t seem to be able to download past lessons, eg Lessons 1-10.
Thanks,
Christine
Go onto the audio and press “Share”
Press the rightmost button that has a down-arrow
Press the three dots in the corner and press “Download”
MERCIIII
thank you ever soo much
this is not only helpful but really effective
thanks
so i would like to learn french if u can teach me S’IL VOUS PLAIT
Merci
This conversion has help me a lot. You guys are doing an amazing job by helping people like us to learn the language. MERCI 😀
merci beaucoup!!
merci bien.C’est exellente.
The triumphant return! So good to have this back, I’m hoping you’ll put in some background on Nice in, like you did for the Loire last time. Also, no Anna?
Hi i really wanted to download this but it wouldn’t let me on my ipod so i tried on the computer but it still would not work. Is this to do with my itunes. Or do you know of this problem and will it be fixed? thankyou
It is still not possible to listen to any of the video lessons. What is the problem?
“Je suis en forme” When you first said it I heard “Je suis en faim” so I thought you were hungry. What do I do with these Fish and Chips now…
Très bien, merci.
Es increible todo lo que aprendi hoy , excelente clase muchas gracias.
Merci, guys! Je suis Hongkonger. Thank you for teaching French online for free. The audio is good, but i believe it will be better if a script and a learning guide are provided. Anyway, merci beaucoup.=)
tres bien ! Merci pour votre site
If you are looking for the old episodes on iTunes, locate the program, then manually download the episodes. You may have to customize your podcast settings to “keep all episodes” so they don’t auto-delete after you listen once.
I love this program, I’ve recommended this podcast to many of my college classmates who are struggling with pronunciation of the basic language.
I am a Spanish student from the U.S. and took a study tour of Spain this summer. My fellow travelers bamboozled me into taking an extension to Paris and I was terrified. I and another of my classmates sat on the bus between Pamplona and Barcelona, listening to Coffee Break French and learning some basic phrases. We had loads of strange looks from our fellow travelers, but we were in good shape when we arrived in Paris.
Merci,
Suzanne, Southern Californa, USA
j’apprends le francais et l’anglais en meme temps, merci
Merci
Thanks for this lesson it’s so cool!
Excellent 1st lesson
wow!!!! great job …i appriciate this gesture!
Merci bien, tres bon!
i cant download the first 5 episodes from itunes :[
Merci beaucoup!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Merci, Merci Merci.
looking forward to the next lesson.
love it,love it,love it!!!
Tres bien
Merci!!!
Merci^^!
thanks very much for this.tres bien.
Merci! I love this program, it’s useful for me, and most importantly, it’s relaxing and cool. I hope I can speak French well one day!!
I used to listen to your lessons but I can’t find the ones I had before
simple and good !
Just amazing! Here I can learn both French and a little hearing of Eng/Scottish accent, what a nice website!
Merci beaucoup,
Bruno du Brésil.
That was ver useful…Merci beaucoup:)
That was very useful…Merci beaucoup:)
I went to Dakar ,senegal and i have no idea how to communicate with people in french and thanks to coffee break french it help me to start communication .so thank you very much teacher Mark and student Anna .keep up the good work.
C’est formidable merci beaucoup
This is a nice idea, but includes far too much chat in English in my opinion, surely that’s missing the point!
Thank you for the lesson …the best start a person can have in french 🙂
this program was super helpful!!!!!!
Thank you so much. I really enjoyed this.
OMG Totes Amazeballs
These classes are great and you are both lovely. Thank you!
Hello
The download link seems to be broken?
It seems to be working ok for us. Perhaps it was a temporary blip?
Hello! I just love the podcasts! I’ve been traveling all around the world listening to you guys. I think now it might be the time to take a step forward. But first I would like to know if Amazon’s 4 lessons packs offer the same benefits as buying from the website. Thank you and a big hi from Brazil!
Obrigado, Henrique! The Amazon lesson packs are made up of the lesson notes for groups of five lessons. If you buy on our site you get access to the lesson notes, bonus audio and our ‘synchronised flashcards’ which allow you to see the words and phrases on the screen of your iOS device while listening. Hope that helps.
I love this lesson
I love coffee break french! I found it on i tunes just a few months ago and I am totally addicted… I’ve also told all my friends about it! Mark and Ana are just great, congratulations for such an useful tool. Ps. The only downside is Ana’s mis pronunciating the words parler and soleil… Hahahaha.
Hi Anna and Mark
Im a beginner and your job is very good…during my journey until my job im always “drinking” my french coffee with you….and the better of that is because I improve my english also….
Best Regards
Antonio Sergio (brazilian living in Portugal)
Merci beaucoup – muito obrigado!
I love Mark’s personality and would love to have coffee and practice my French with him. So cheery and patient. I’m walking around cleaning my house and talking to the couch, the vacuum, the pillows… “et toi? commet t’appelle TU?” Such a great podcast. THANK YOU
I purchased Season 2 (awhile ago) but can no longer access it.
Can you explain the problem. I was under the impression that it didn’t run out.
Hi Jackie. Please contact us by email support [at] radiolingua [dot] com and we’ll help you get access to the materials you previously purchased.
hi i love your show
Hi. Thanks for your great podcast. Where can I download the PDF files?
The PDF lesson notes are part of the premium version of Coffee Break French which you can find on the Coffee Break Academy: http://courses.coffeebreakacademy.com/p/coffee-break-french-season-1. Hope this helps.
GREAT TO PASS TIME