How do you ask someone how their day at work is going?

Question

Would you say:

Comment était votre journée au travail?

@jlliagre thanks!! and you could say that while they are still at work, it doesn't have to be after they are finished? — K Fry, Oct 05 '17 at 03:53

SwissFr · Answer 1 · 2017-10-05T12:39:27.717

5

"était" implies that the work day is over.

You could say:

Comment se passe ta journée (au boulot/ au travail) ?

If you don't mention "au boulot/au travail", that's implicit in my opinion.

edited Oct 05 '17 at 12:39

answered Oct 05 '17 at 07:44

SwissFr

I agree with the option (au boulot / au travail) as I think that we don't want to focus on work aspect only and take the whole day as such. – Al-un Oct 06 '17 at 00:15

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 05 '17 at 21:05

1

I think this is an american tradition. One can translate it but no french speaker would talk like that.

answered Oct 05 '17 at 21:05

HLuc

Je ne suis pas d'accord. On demande la même chose en France, mais parfois avec des mots différents. – SteffX Oct 06 '17 at 16:49

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 06 '17 at 13:05

1

A better phrase would be :

Comment s'est passée votre journée de travail ?

answered Oct 06 '17 at 13:05

Olivier Boissé

ChrisW · Answer 4 · 2017-10-06T11:25:07.777

0

I wouldn't refer to work explicitly, but ask, "How is it going?" -- Comment ça va ? -- or, Ça va bien ? -- or just, Ça va ?

If I wanted to ask for a detailed report about work, maybe, Elle était comment, votre journée au travail ?

Ça s'est bien passé, ta journée au boulot ? invites a one word answer (and is familiar, using ta instead of votre).

Note that était is past tense ("was"), which doesn't match the title of the question ("is going", present tense).

edited Oct 06 '17 at 11:25

answered Oct 06 '17 at 10:19

ChrisW

Il était comment, votre journée is a typical native English speaker French mistake ;-) – jlliagre Oct 06 '17 at 11:05
Is it? :-) I'm trying to learn to be less formal, but (according to your criticism) I haven't got the hang of it properly. – ChrisW Oct 06 '17 at 11:14
2

You are missing the gender issue! – jlliagre Oct 06 '17 at 11:15
Thank you. It used to amaze me that I knew the genders of words; but now, after 40 years of not using French, that ability is not reliable any more. – ChrisW Oct 06 '17 at 11:24
About formality, the reason why I used tu in my comment is I guess you are much more likely to ask this question to your partner, child, parent or other family member, a friend or a colleague instead of someone you vouvoie. – jlliagre Oct 06 '17 at 11:59

4 Answers4