How to say how are you in French

How to say how are you in French

Listen to the most common ways how to say how are you in French: part of our free French language lessons online: French greetings.

 

Listen how to say how are you in French

 

Download and listen to the French audio how to say how are you in French (mp3, 4KB)

 

  • Polite: Bonjour. Comment allez-vous? Goodday/hello, how are you?
     
  • Casual: Salut. Comment vas-tu? Hi, how are you?
     
  • Pas mal. Not bad.

 

Learn how to speak French by simply listening and repeating the above French words as good as you can.

 

Casual hi, how are you in French.

 

In this online French class you will learn the difference between the formal and casual French language.

 

When talking to friends or family, the French say: Comment vas-tu? These French words literary translate to English as:

 

  • comment : how
     
  • vas : you go (casual)
     
  • tu : you (casual)

 

When the French become more formal and start talking to people they respect or meet for the first time, the French say Comment allez-vous? These French words literary translate to English as:

 

When talking to friends or family, the French say: Comment vas-tu? These French words literary translate to English as:

 

  • comment : how
     
  • allez : you go (formal)
     
  • vous : you formal)

 

Casual ‘tu’ – formal ‘vous’

 

The French have 2 ways of translating the word "you":

 

  • When talking to friends, they will use tu when they want to point to one person.
     
  • When talking to people they never saw before or in any case they want to point to more than one person, they will use vous.

 

French language courses will give you an extensive list when to use ‘tu
or ‘vous‘ but:

 

Rule of thumb: always use vous!

 

The first time you meet a French person, he will address you with "vous". When you get to know each other better (after a few bottles of French wine or after a few days interacting with each other on a more personal level), suddenly the French person will start using "tu".

 

Once that happens, you can safely start using "tu" as well. As usual follow the golden rules:

 

  • be a parrot: always repeat what you hear
     
  • in France, do what the French do

 

Hello, how are you in French – Not bad.

 

Listen again to the French audio how to say how are you in French and notice the last sentence:

 

  • Pas mal : Not bad

 

For now just notice that when you see the word "pas" in a French sentence, the French are expressing "not …":

 

  • pas bien : not good
     
  • pas mal : not bad

 

How to say how are you in French summary

 

This French lesson seems short but you learned 2 very important things in the French language:

 

  • the difference between formal and casual French
     
  • an introduction how the French say ‘not’

 

Read our previous post to learn more ways how to say how are you in French.

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