French greetings makeover! Ditch “Ça va?” for these alternatives 🎧

Quoi de neuf? 

That’s one of my favorite ways to greet my friends and students in French. Quoi de neuf literally means “what’s new” and it’s an easy and informal conversation starter.  

There are tons of other alternatives to the regular: “Comment ça va?” or “Comment vas-tu?” that you can use in your informal conversations to sound more natural. 

Here are the top 8 that you’ll hear in French media and that you can use yourself! 

  1. En forme?

An informal way to ask how someone is doing. Although “en forme” literally translates to “in shape” or “fit,” when it’s asked as a question like this, it’s asking how you’re doing. 

     2. Quoi de neuf?

As you saw in the intro, quoi de neuf literally means “What’s new?” This is a great way to put the conversation into your friend’s court because it’ll give you time to listen to how they’re doing. And chances are, they’ll ask you the same thing afterward. 

   3. Quoi de beau?

 I love asking my English-speaking friends “What’s good?” and this is closest to that in French. It’s asking for positive news, so best not to ask it to someone who you know might be having a bad day. 

    4. Ça roule?

Literally “it’s rolling?”. This informal expression can be used instead of “ça va” to ask how it’s going. You can make it a little more cutesy with a good friend or family member by saying “ça roule, ma poule?” Ma poule means “my chicken” and it’s a term of endearment a little bit like “honey”. 

    5. Ça gaze?

Also very informal, like asking “How are things?” 

    6. Ça baigne?

Informal and similar to ça roule and ça gaze and like asking “How are things going?” or “how’s it hanging?"

    7. Wesh

Wesh is very informal and is used in France. It comes from Arabic and means a variety of things in French. Sometimes it’s a little bit like greeting someone with “yo” in English, and sometimes it’s more like “what’s up” depending on the context. Even if you’re not going to use it yourself, you’ll 100% see it in French TV series (like Détox) and music, and chances are you’ll hear it if you’re sitting at a Paris café near French teenagers around the time of le goûter, or the after school snack. 

    8. Tu tiens le coup?

Use this with your friend going through a hard time. It’s literally asking “are you holding the blow/hit?” and means “How are you holding up?” 

Are you looking to keep track of all the new vocabulary you’re learning? I recommend this beautiful Language Study Notebook Journal on Etsy!

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