How to Ask Health in French

The standard way to ask “how are you?” in French is “comment allez-vous?” However, there are many ways to ask and answer questions, as well as ask the other person again after you have finished answering. Here are some of the most common and useful uses.

Table of Contents

Make a question

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Ask politely, “Comment allez-vous?” This is the standard way to ask someone how they are, used in all situations but most commonly in formal situations, when talking to strangers and elderly people.

The correct pronunciation of this sentence is kom-mohn tay-lay voo. ^{[1] X Research Source}
Comment means “how.”
Allez is conjugated from the infinitive “aller,” which means “to have health (good/bad)” or “to progress.”
Vous means “you”.
Literally translates this sentence as “How’s your health?”

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Ask friends and family “Comment ça va?” This way of saying is also asking about health but closer and less formal, so you should only use it with close people.

This phrase is roughly pronounced koh-mohn sah vah.
Comment means “how.”
Va is another conjugation of the infinitive aller, ,” meaning “to progress.” ^{[2] X Research Source}
When standing alone, ça is a pronoun, meaning “it.” ^{[3] X Research Sources}
The literal translation of this sentence is, “How are things going?”

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The more concise question is “Ça va?” This is how to say “how are you?” very informal, you just have to ask “ça va?”

Pronounce this sentence as sah vah.
A more literal translation would be “what’s up?” ^{[4] X Research Source} Similar to when you ask someone “What’s up?” in English.

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Change to “Comment vas-tu?” Although it has the same form as the formal, polite usage, this sentence is used in the context of friends.

This question is pronounced like koh-mohn vah too. ^{[5] X Research Sources}
Comment means “how,” vas is conjugated from the infinitive “aller,” and tu is an informal way of saying “you.”
The literal translation would be, “How are you?”

Answer the question

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Respond positively that “bien.” ^{[6] X Research Source} The word “bien” means “healthy/good.” You can say succinctly that you are well, but more often it is used as part of a sentence.

This word is pronounced bee-ehn.
“Je vais bien” is an expanded response, meaning, “I’m fine/Everything is fine.”
“Très bien” means “very strong.”
“Bien, merci” means “well, thanks.”
“Tout and bien” means “all is well.”
“Assez bien” means “completely healthy.”
“Ça va” means “well/well.”

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Respond negatively with “mal.” As with the positive expression, mal is often used in response. This word means “bad.”

Mal reads as mahl.
You can also use in extended sentences, “Je vais mal,” which means, “I’m not well” or “Things aren’t right.”

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Use “Comme-ci comme-ca” in the middle. This sentence is similar to “so-so” (meaning “temporary”) in English.

Pronounce this sentence as kum-see, kum-sah.”

Respond with a question

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Politely ask back, “Et vous?” This question is used to ask someone again after they asked you first and you answered.

Et means “and/also.”
Literally translated as “And you?”
You can use this question with anyone, in any context, but most often in formal situations or when talking to strangers, older people.

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Ask friends and family that “Et toi?” This sentence is used to ask someone again after they asked you first.

Toi is an informal way of saying “you.”
This question is often used in informal and informal contexts. You should only use it with friends and relatives. For more formal situations, use “et vous?”.

Steps

Make a question

Answer the question

Respond with a question

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