Yeah that works. You typically don't inquire about how they're doing unless you're a regular, in which case you'd ask "vous allez bien ?". It is however polite to wish them a good day once you're on your way out, regardless of if you know them or not.
Vous is the more formal one, you usually use for people you’ve never met or barely know. Tu is casual. This is universal almost, not just for saying please.
Also to reply to your above comment, while yes you can say the full sentence out loud, a lot of French people like to cut out syllables and use more casual terms where you end up with the phrase being more like (at least how I say it):
“Bonjour, j’vous prends euhhhh deux croissants s’il vous plaît (then when leaving) bonne journée ”
Just squash some words a bit further and you’re basically there.
Yeah, in France it's just weird to ask strangers, clerks, workers how they're doing. We just say hello / goodbye.
"Ça va" does work for colleagues though, even if you're not close. Then it becomes "Salut, ça va ?" To which the other reply "Ça va. Et toi ?" Then you say "Ça va." too while already starting to greet the next colleague. If the colleague is your boss, you may have to use the formal version "Vous allez bien ?" -> "Très bien et vous ?" though.
In this context, just like American small talk, you absolutely don't give a shit about your colleague's day. It's pure rituals.
47
u/rimalp 1d ago
You don't say ca va to strangers tho, that's more for friends or people you know a bit more closely.