What Does Ca Va Mean

By Last updated: August 22, 2022

Ça Va: The All-purpose French Expression and How to Use It Like a Pro Pastry Chef

Ça va.

It is i of the first things yous volition encounter equally a débutant(a beginner) in French.

Because like all–purpose flour, ça vais a common and versatile expression used in a variety of different ways.

So let's accept a look at this minor just mighty fauna.

The Straightforward Meaning of Ça Va
Ça Va as a Response
- Ça va in the positive
- Ça va in the negative
Ça Va and Fashion
Using Ça Va to Phone call in Ill
Totally in Understanding with Ça Va
Everything Will Exist Alright Using Ça Va
Ça Va with Plural Nouns
Using Ça Va to Say Sparks Volition Fly
Shooting Someone Down (Figuratively) with Ça Va
Practicing Ça Va

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The Straightforward Pregnant of Ça Va

Let's get old school and get back to the classroom.

You are (insert historic period here) years sometime and merely trying to make it through life let alone another French class.

Many language teachers do not go into particular about literal translations, which tin can sometimes be a adept reference signal to showtime with.

The literal translation of ça va is "information technology goes" or "that goes."

This expression is most commonly used to ask how someone is doing, even if you are not necessarily expecting or wanting a reply.

Salut, ça va? (Hi, how are you?/how are things?/how is it going?)

The register of this expression is classified as informal, which means that yous demand to exercise circumspection when using it in certain situations, especially with those yous would address using vous(yous—formal/plural) rather than tu (you lot—breezy/atypical).

I will be using the latter for the rest of the article, equally well as occasionally dropping the "ne"in the negative, which is often omitted in informal conversations.

Ça Va as a Response

Ça va in the positive

Now that y'all have asked how someone is, or as in the above example, somebody has but asked you; you are going to need to know how to answer.

Simple.

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Only respond with ça vain a neutral to positive tone of vocalism—only if you lot are feeling that style, of course!

In doing so, you are letting the speaker know that life is going okay.

Ça va. (I am fine./Everything is good.)

To strengthen this feeling (or make information technology more emphatic), you can add a positive adverb such as bien (well).

Ça va bien. (Things are going well.)

Ça va in the negative

Many French learners call back that the expression comme si, comme ça (like this, similar that) is the appropriate thing to say at this point, especially if you are feeling "so-so."

The truth is that while understandable to francophones, this is not the well-used expression anglophones think it is.

You are more than probable to hear ça va in the positive form but spoken in a tone of vocalization that indicates the speaker is not feeling wonderful for whatever reason.

If you lot desire to be more explicit almost your negative feeling, you can simply answer with:

Ça (ne) va pas. (Everything is not skillful./I am not okay.)

Yous can besides express this by using the adverb mal (badly).

Ça va mal. (Things are not going well.)

Ça Va and Way

Does this dress make me look fatty?

Before we strike a pose, did you know that the vain ça vais the third-person atypical of the verb aller (to get)?

Aller à (qqn) is used when you want to say that an item of clothing suits or looks good on somebody.

Let'due south imagine that I have just walked out of a fitting room in a rather becoming pair of trousers. We are shut friends (i.e., we use tu) and you lot want to compliment me on my astute fashion sense by saying, "hey, those trousers expect bang-up on you!"

In which case, you can say:

Ça te va bien! (That really suits you!)

Or if you remember I wait hideous but want to be polite and honest:

Ça te va pas . (That does not accommodate you lot.)

Using Ça Va to Telephone call in Sick

Whether you are also tired the next day afterwards an exhausting trouser shopping spree or are genuinely feeling a flake nether the weather condition, there are two nifty expressions you can apply to limited this, especially if you demand to telephone call out of work:

Je ne me sens pas bien. (I do not feel well.)

Ça ne va pas. (I do not feel well.)

Let's look at a possible exchange between you and your boss:

Boss: Bonjour __, c'est très tôt— ça ne va pas ? (Hello__, it is very early—is there something wrong?/are yous sick?)

You: Oui monsieur/madame, ça ne va pas du tout. Je crois que j'ai une gastro-entérite. (Yeah, sir/madame, I practice not feel well at all. I call back I take gastroenteritis.)

Totally in Agreement with Ça Va

Do yous want to larn how to use ça va to keep everyone happy?

Ça vais ofttimes used when yous want to know if what you are proposing is acceptable to someone else.

It can begin the sentence as in:

Ça (te) va si j'achète cette voiture? (Is it okay if I buy this car?)

Or at the end of a sentence as a quick confirmation:

Je veux y aller ce soir—ça (te) va? (I desire to go in that location this evening—is that alright?)

Let's expect at some more examples:

Ça te va si je one thousand'assois là? (Is it alright if I sit down there?)

Je peux manger le sandwich qui reste—ça (te) va? (Can I eat the leftover sandwich—is that okay?)

Everything Will Be Alright Using Ça Va

Ça va tin be used to mean that something will happen.

The construction ça va + infinitive indicates that something will happen in the futurity.

Allow'southward say y'all are having a really bad twenty-four hours—you got a parking ticket, spilled soda down the front of your shirt earlier a meeting and dropped your front door key down a deep crevice in the sidewalk.

Yous are feeling depression and make up one's mind to share the story of your day with a friend.

In this situation, they might respond with something like:

Ça va passer. (It will pass.)

Ça va aller. (Information technology will exist alright.)

You can of course alter the meaning to say that something will happen in a negative sense using mal (badly) equally we have encountered before:

Ça va mal finir. (It is going to end desperately.)

Ça Va with Plural Nouns

Ça va can be used to ask how everyone is doing.

As much importance as French places on agreement, this is one situation when learners can happily throw the rulebook out the window.

So, if there is a whole group of guys at a party and you want to ask how all of them are doing, you tin walk in and say:

Ça va les gars? (How is it going guys?)

Notice that les garsis plural, but the verb does not conjugate to concord with this.

Another example state of affairs where ça va can be used in this manner is when a parent comes into their daughter's bedroom to inquire how her homework is going:

Comment ça va les devoirs? (How is the homework going?)

Using Ça Va to Say Sparks Volition Wing

There are a few expressions that begin with ça va that indicate that a hereafter situation is going to be hard, or more than accurately "heated."

Yous: Mais qu'est-ce qui se passe? (What is happening?)

Friend: Jean a encore joué un bout à Pierre. Ça va barder. (Jean has played another play a trick on on Pierre. Things are going to get heated).

Ça va barder/ça va chauffer (sparks will fly/things are going to get heated) build upon what we have already established in terms of usingça va to talk well-nigh the futurity.

Simply, this usage takes it one step further in your French learning. With this particular usage, you are going beyond studying grammatical constructions to really using the linguistic communication naturally—as in using everyday expressions that take you closer to proficiency.

Shooting Someone Down (Figuratively) with Ça Va

That is a bit rich—and I practice non hateful the cake!

At that place are times when someone is beingness hypocritical and not in a position to justify what they are saying.

Maybe your friend is always making fun of how tasteless your baking is when they cannot even broil themselves!

In English (and sticking with the cake theme) we might say something like:"that is rich coming from you!" or "you can talk!"

Equally, there are multiple ways to express this idea in French, just this one might exist the very thing to sum up this tasty menu of ça va:

Ça te va bien! (Figuratively—that is rich coming from yous!)

Notice this is exactly the same plow of phrase as in the betoken about fashion. Information technology is all about the fashion you say it hither.

Practicing Ça Va

By now you are hopefully feeling a bit clearer about the multiple uses of ça va—our nifty, all-purpose friend.

At present that you are aware of the means that it is used, you will likely start hearing it equally you run into French beingness spoken by native French speakers. How tin you practice this expression then you can use it yourself?

You should aim to run into ça va used in as much real native content as possible to provide context to its meanings. This is the media that native French speakers would consume. They're also likely to characteristic realistic conversations that make skilful use of common expressions.

You have enough of options, including reading French books, listening to French music, watching French Television receiver shows and and then forth. Locate ça va (yous probably won't have to search for too long) and note the scenario in which information technology'due south used.

Some French language learning programs can also assist you exercise ça va and other expressions in context. They tin as well offering their own unique tools to brand things easier to call back in the long run.

For example, FluentU uses accurate French videos to teach French the fashion native speakers utilize it. Videos include pic trailers, TV show clips, news segments and other native French content. Each prune has interactive subtitles that explain the used vocabulary, including colloquial expressions, and so that you lot acquire their definition, grammatical basis and proper usage.

For example, you tin can run across ça va used several times, both every bit a question and a response, in this clip from "The Little Prince" on FluentU:

Desire fifty-fifty more practise? You can save both the question and the response versions of the expression to your flashcard decks and use the contextual video dictionary to view other clips that use them in the same context. Y'all tin also practise words on FluentU with personalized quizzes, which include speaking opportunities on the iOS and Android apps.

Of grade, information technology'south also greatly helpful to take a "language buddy" that can help y'all practice ça va in casual conversation. This tin be a fellow learner or a native speaker, and they can address specific rights or wrongs y'all make.

Ça va is not as daunting as you might accept originally idea, right? It is really easier to use this expression correctly than not.

Now, all you need to exercise is leave there and start using ça va like a pro pastry chef!

Download: This blog postal service is bachelor every bit a user-friendly and portable PDF that you lot can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)