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Ca va? - Meaning

Ok
I am taking my French GCSE and at my school we do an exchange with a French school and the French students have recently been over here. The thing that i am confused about is that ever since i first learnt French i was taught that 'ca va' meant 'how are you' however these French students will reply with 'oui' if i ask them 'ca va?' This leads me onto my question, What is the actual definition of 'ca va' (I don't want the literal translation) because if it means 'how are you' then 'yes' does't really make sense. Does it mean 'are you ok'?
Thanks for anyone who answers
Literally translated it means 'this goes?' But you're basically asking them 'how's it going?' Except you're making a statement that it is going (well), so you're asking them if it's going well, to which they reply 'yes', hope this helps
Original post by fpalmer
Ok
I am taking my French GCSE and at my school we do an exchange with a French school and the French students have recently been over here. The thing that i am confused about is that ever since i first learnt French i was taught that 'ca va' meant 'how are you' however these French students will reply with 'oui' if i ask them 'ca va?' This leads me onto my question, What is the actual definition of 'ca va' (I don't want the literal translation) because if it means 'how are you' then 'yes' does't really make sense. Does it mean 'are you ok'?
Thanks for anyone who answers


I'm fluent.

It means "How are you?", "How's going?" or, if you remove the interrogation mark "I'm fine/I'm alright". You can also find it it front of other words to describe direction, so for example "Ca va comme ca(?)" meaning "It goes like this(?)" or "Is it OK like this(?)"

:smile:
(edited 8 years ago)
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fpalmer
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Thanks for the replies, I now understand the definition of 'Ca va' that should help me with my french

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