Look at these sentences with aller:
Comment va Paul? - Il ne va pas très bien ces jours-ci.
How is Paul? - He's not feeling very well these days.
Comment ça va? - Ça va bien, et toi?
How are you / How do you feel? - I'm fine/I feel fine, and you?
Comment vont tes enfants? - Ils vont mieux, merci
How are your children? - They feel better, thank you
In French, you can use the verb aller (to go) to make general statements about how you feel/are.
You can use it to express to feel/be fine, bad, better.
ATTENTION:
When you want to express specific statements with adjectives - I am sick/ tired/happy - you cannot use aller.
You'll use être (to be) instead:
Comment vas-tu, Bertrand ? - Je suis malade aujourd'hui.
How are you, Bertrand? - I'm sick today.
Comment ça va Samantha ? - Je suis fatiguée.
How are you Samantha? - I'm tired.
See also Using 'sentir bon' and 'se sentir bien'
Comment ça va? - Ça va bien, et toi?
How are you / How do you feel? - I'm fine/I feel fine, and you?
Comment vont tes enfants? - Ils vont mieux, merci
How are your children? - They feel better, thank you
Comment va Paul? - Il ne va pas très bien ces jours-ci.
How is Paul? - He's not feeling very well these days.
Comment vas-tu, Bertrand ? - Je suis malade aujourd'hui.
How are you, Bertrand? - I'm sick today.
Comment ça va Samantha ? - Je suis fatiguée.
How are you Samantha? - I'm tired.
The lesson says that when talking about specifics, you use être, but the kwiz said this should be aller:
Martine était malade, mais elle ________ mieux à présent.
She is feeling better at present sounds like it is specific, so why is 'est' not right here?
I think maybe I get it. "I feel better" is general, but "I AM tired" is specific.
So its more about the fact that feelings are general, but you are something specific.
Bonjour Rant !
C'est exactement ça !
But I agree it can be made clearer in the lesson, and so I did just that :)
I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !
The lesson says that when talking about specifics, you use être, but the kwiz said this should be aller:
Martine était malade, mais elle ________ mieux à présent.
She is feeling better at present sounds like it is specific, so why is 'est' not right here?
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Hi D,
To add to what Chris said and to use the example in the lesson 'Sophie vient' the three possible ways to ask if Sophie is coming would be :
Est-ce que Sophie vient? (using est-ce que)
Sophie vient-elle? (Inversion)
Sophie vient? (Intonation rising at the end making it a question)
It is the same with all verbs,
e.g. Les voitures coûtent cher.
Est-ce que les voitures coûtent cher?
Les voitures coûtent-elles cher? (Inversion)
Les voitures coûtent cher?
Hope this helps!
Hi D,
"Comment vont tes enfants?" and "Tes enfants comment vont-ils?" are both correct.
The reason you cannot say, e.g., "Vont tes enfants?" is because there is no interrogative pronoun as, e.g., comment, quand, etc.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Bonjour Kiattiyos !
"Il sent mal" could only be used in a very specific context to mean "He smells wrong", i.e. that person has a problem with their sense of smell.
To say "He smells bad" (i.e. he stinks), you would use "Il sent mauvais", and to say "He feels bad", it would be "Il se sent mal".
Have a look at the related lesson: https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/how-to-use-sentir-bon-versus-se-sentir-bien
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level >>