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How to Say ‘I'm fine, thank you’ in French

Ça va bien, merci

sah va bee-ehn mehr-see

[sah va bee-ehn mehr-see]

Phrase Breakdown

Ça va bien,

sah va bee-ehn

I'm doing well,

Literally 'it goes well'. Pause briefly at the comma before adding 'merci'.

Example

Ça va bien, et toi ?

I'm doing well, and you?

Words in this phrase

Ça

[sah]

that / it

Demonstrative pronoun used in everyday French to mean 'that' or 'it.'

Example

Ça me plaît quand une entreprise parle clairement.

I like it when a company speaks clearly.

va

[va]

goes / is going

From the verb aller. In Ça va ?, it helps express how things are going.

Example

Dans Ça va ?, va parle de how it goes.

In Ça va?, va talks about how it goes.

bien

[bee-ehn]

well

An adverb meaning in a good way or satisfactorily.

Example

Dans Se passe bien ?, bien montre que l'on parle d'une situation positive.

In "Se passe bien?", "bien" shows that one is talking about a positive situation.

merci

[mehr-see]

thanks

A very common polite word meaning 'thanks' or 'thank you'.

Example

Je réponds poliment : Ça va bien, merci.

I reply politely: 'I'm fine, thanks.'

Related guides

Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.How to Learn to Speak French, Not Just Read ItWhy reading French doesn't make you speak it, and a practical way to learn to speak French: real conversations, speaking out loud from day one, and practice with people.

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