🕳

[plucky lava]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

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Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[buoyant stream]

like for example I ask you « ça va » and you reply « ça va et toi » what would ça va mean in that sense when replying . If that makes sense

[vapid beacon]

there's a difference in intonation

ça va ? != ça va.

[buoyant stream]

wait I’m sorry I don’t get it 😭

[vapid beacon]

what's your native language?

[buoyant stream]

it’s english but like does ça va have other meanings as well?

I’ve always thought it was just how are you

[vapid beacon]

ok, well the thing is

• ça va ?
  and
• ça va.

don't sound the same

on the first one you use rising intonation like in a question in English

and on the second you using falilng intonation (like a statement in English)

[buoyant stream]

I understand that but what is the translation 😭

[vapid beacon]

well the translation will depend on the intonation you use

ça va ? -> how's it going
ça va. -> it's going (well)

[buoyant stream]

oh! I never knew you could use it in different ways

very interesting

is that casual, can you say it formally?

[vapid beacon]

it's relatively casual

fine for anyone you'd use "tu" with

but if you use "vous" with someone, you'd probably opt for something else

[buoyant stream]

ahhhh okay

merci bcppp!!

[tame snow]

Literally "is it going?" "It's going"

[buoyant stream]

can I show you a video just to make sure. cus I’m going crazy rn 😭

I was watching the french nt team and they just kept saying it

@tame snow

[tame snow]

Ok

[buoyant stream]

@tame snow

[vapid beacon]

perhaps what you're not understanding is that this is just a standard way of greeting people in French

they're not actually asking for responses

"ça va ?" is what's called a phatic expression

like, no one would every answer "I'm doing terribly, my dog just died and my mom has cancer"

[tame snow]

"how's it going?" "Good, good, good" is the closest in English to this

[vapid beacon]

you just answer "I'm good, and you?"

[tame snow]

Yeah

Either you talk about other stuff after or u continue on

[buoyant stream]

ohhhh okay

that’s new, bc i expected a nice “bien” but they just kept saying ça va looool thank you guys

[proud bone]

basically, in casual speech, the questions that don't require an interrogative pronoun (qui, que, quel, comment...) can have the same syntax as an affirmative sentence, the difference being the intonation