How to Say ‘How are you?’ in French

Comment allez-vous ?

koh-mahn ah-lay voo

[koh-mahn ah-lay voo]

💬 Usage Tip: The z sound joins the two words, so you say (ah-lay-voo) with a link: (ah-lay-zvoo) is wrong, it's (ah-lay voo) with the z carried over from allez only when a vowel follows. Here no z is heard, so say roughly (koh-mahn tah-lay voo), where the t of comment links onto allez.

🇫🇷 In France: This is the formal version, used with older people, a boss or someone you've just met. With friends, people say Ça va ? instead.