Module 2 of the free French course (CEFR A1, completed), lesson 8 of 30: Comment asks how: Comment ça va? On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 8.
| French | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| comment | how | koh-MAH(n) |
| combien | how many / how much | koh(n)-BYA(n) |
| combien de | how many (+ noun) | koh(n)-BYA(n) duh |
| combien de frères as-tu? | how many brothers do you have? | koh(n)-bya(n) duh frehr ah-TEW |
| comment ça va? | how is it going? | koh-mah(n) sah VAH |
| bien | well | bya(n) |
| mal | badly | mahl |
| comme ci, comme ça | so-so | kum see kum SAH |
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
Comment asks how: Comment ça va? Comment tu t'appelles? Combien asks how many or how much: Combien de frères as-tu?
Combien de + noun: the de never changes — combien de livres, combien de sœurs.
combien de never changes its de: combien de livres, combien de sœurs. Never combien des.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.
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