I think the best way to teach and learn French is by story-telling. So here goes an effort. Let me know if you like it.
***
You have been corresponding with this French girl for over a year. She writes and speaks excellent English and of course French. You are on your way to meet her for the first time. You are flying to Paris. You land and there she is waiting for you ...
You: "Bonjour!"
She: "Bonjour!"
You: "Comment allez vous? How are you?" (Pronounced: kommoN tallay voo)
She: "I think we have known each other for some time now." She says smiling.
Wow! Ok ... rewind
You: "Ça va?" (Suh vah)
She: "Ça va bien, merci! Et toi? Fine Thank you. And you?" (Suh vah bee-aN, mayor-si! Ay tuwah)
There! That was not difficult. Was it?
***
'Vous' and 'tu' are forms of 'you'. Use 'Vous' when you address elders and strangers. Use 'tu’ when you address friends and family. Here the variation of 'tu' used is 'toi', meaning 'to you'.
'Comment' is 'how'.
'allez' is a verb form (conjugation) of 'aller' meaning 'to go' – we will deal with this a bit more later on - so, what you asked was actually 'How goes it (to) you?' or 'How is it going?’
When, on her encouragement, you switched to the casual form Ça va? you are still saying the same thing: Ça means ‘that’, and ‘va’ is another verb form of ‘aller’ meaning to go: (How) is it going? The response to Ça va? is Ça va. This sounds a little bit strange till you realize that when some says ‘hello’ you respond with a ‘hello’.
The story will continue …
***
You have been corresponding with this French girl for over a year. She writes and speaks excellent English and of course French. You are on your way to meet her for the first time. You are flying to Paris. You land and there she is waiting for you ...
You: "Bonjour!"
She: "Bonjour!"
You: "Comment allez vous? How are you?" (Pronounced: kommoN tallay voo)
She: "I think we have known each other for some time now." She says smiling.
Wow! Ok ... rewind
You: "Ça va?" (Suh vah)
She: "Ça va bien, merci! Et toi? Fine Thank you. And you?" (Suh vah bee-aN, mayor-si! Ay tuwah)
There! That was not difficult. Was it?
***
'Vous' and 'tu' are forms of 'you'. Use 'Vous' when you address elders and strangers. Use 'tu’ when you address friends and family. Here the variation of 'tu' used is 'toi', meaning 'to you'.
'Comment' is 'how'.
'allez' is a verb form (conjugation) of 'aller' meaning 'to go' – we will deal with this a bit more later on - so, what you asked was actually 'How goes it (to) you?' or 'How is it going?’
When, on her encouragement, you switched to the casual form Ça va? you are still saying the same thing: Ça means ‘that’, and ‘va’ is another verb form of ‘aller’ meaning to go: (How) is it going? The response to Ça va? is Ça va. This sounds a little bit strange till you realize that when some says ‘hello’ you respond with a ‘hello’.
The story will continue …
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