You’ll also learn the formal and informal French for asking people how they are – important stuff if you want to make the right first impression. And just in case you need to apologize… you’ll learn how to say sorry in French as well!

After you greet someone, you’ll want to ask how they are or how’s it going. Here are some common questions that follow a greeting.

Resources for further reading:

What's the easiest way to learn French?

What you need to know to learn French

How to say How are you? in French

For friends or family:

Practice Your Pronunciation With Rocket Record

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Comment ça va ?

How are you? (formally)

Ça va ?

How are you?

For strangers or more senior people:

Comment allez-vous ?

How are you?

What do you say if someone asks you How are you? in French?

Bien, Merci.

Well, thanks.

Très bien.

Very well.

Comme toujours.

As always.

Un peu fatigué (e).

A little tired.

Je suis malade.

I'm sick.

Comme-ci comme-ca.

So-so.

Pas trop mal.

Not bad.

Mal.

Bad.

Tout va bien.

All good.

Assez bien.

Quite good.

A common follow-up question is, "And you?", "Et toi?" or more formally "et vous?"

Et vous ?

And you? (formal)

Et toi ?

And you?

If someone tells you that he or she is not feeling well you could say the following…

Je suis désolé(e).

I'm sorry.

If someone is feeling great you might want to say the following…

Je suis content(e) d'entendre que tout va bien.

Nice to hear.

The above words are extremely important. From experience, I know that the most important phrase in any language is how to say you’re sorry! Others disagree. They say that there are THREE important phrases that you absolutely must know in any language. They are:

Je suis désolé(e).

I'm sorry

Je t'aime.

I love you

J'ai besoin d'aide.

I need help

Hmm, I can’t think of a situation in which I’d need to use all three, but I’ll leave it to your imagination! That’s it for today’s lesson.

If you want more on French questions then check these out: - Ask "What is your name?" in French

À bientôt!

Marie-Claire Rivière and the Rocket French Team

Make It Stick With Rocket Reinforcement

Reinforce your learning from this lesson with the Rocket Reinforcement activities!