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Bonjour Madame, ça va ?

Bonjour Madame, ça va ?
Hello madam, how are you?
From Lesson 31:The verb to go (aller)·French

Breakdown of Bonjour Madame, ça va ?

bonjour
hello
Madame
madam
ça va
how are you?, I'm fine

Questions & Answers about Bonjour Madame, ça va ?

Why do we use va (from the verb aller, to go) to ask 'how are you?'
In English, we use the verb 'to be' to ask how someone is doing ('How are you?'). In French, we use the verb aller (to go). So, ça va ? literally translates to 'Does it go?' or 'Is it going?', which is the standard French way of asking how someone is.
What does the word ça mean in this sentence?
The word ça means 'it' or 'that'. In the expression ça va, 'it' refers to your life, your health, or things in general. It pairs with va, which is the 'he/she/it' form of the verb aller.
Is it polite to say ça va ? to a Madame?
Ça va ? is informal but extremely common. You can use it alongside Madame if you have a friendly, casual relationship with the person, like a neighbor or a shopkeeper you see often. If you want to be strictly formal with a stranger, it is better to use the formal form of aller and ask Comment allez-vous ?.
What is the little hook under the 'c' in ça?
That mark is called a cedilla (or cédille in French). It is used under the letter 'c' before an 'a', 'o', or 'u' to make it sound like a soft 's'. Without the cedilla, the letters ca would be pronounced with a hard 'k' sound.

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