Comment allez-vous? (How Are You?)
Ask and answer how someone is. Distinguish formal (vous) from informal (tu). Respond with bien, pas mal, comme ci comme ça, très bien merci.
A lesson of French A1 — Beginner, in Greetings & Introductions, about 10 minutes.
By the end of this lesson, you will ask how someone is doing and respond naturally in both formal and informal French.
The Tu / Vous Distinction in Practice
By now you know that French distinguishes between formal vous and informal tu. This lesson shows how that plays out in one of the most common social exchanges: asking how someone is.
| Register | Question | Response |
|---|---|---|
| Formal | Comment allez-vous? | Très bien, merci. |
| Neutral | Comment vous portez-vous? | Bien, merci. Et vous? |
| Informal | Comment tu vas? | Ça va bien. |
| Very informal | Ça va? | Ça va! |
Formal: Comment allez-vous?
Comment allez-vous? literally means "How do you go?" — allez is the vous form of the verb aller (to go).
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Très bien, merci. | Very well, thank you. |
| Bien, merci. | Well, thank you. |
| Assez bien. | Quite well / fairly well. |
| Pas très bien. | Not very well. |
| Comme ci comme ça. | So-so. |
| Et vous? | And you? (formal) |
Informal: Ça va?
Ça va? is the go-to informal greeting once you know someone. Literally "It goes?" — the full form is Comment ça va?
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ça va! | I'm good! / Fine! |
| Ça va bien. | Going well. |
| Ça va très bien. | Going very well. |
| Ça va pas mal. | Not bad. |
| Bof. | Meh / So-so (very casual) |