3

Would you say:

Comment était votre journée au travail?

3
  • 1
    Ça s'est bien passé, ta journée au boulot ?
    – jlliagre
    Oct 5, 2017 at 3:48
  • @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 5, 2017 at 3:53
  • It does indeed.
    – jlliagre
    Oct 5, 2017 at 12:49

4 Answers 4

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.

1
  • 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 6, 2017 at 0:15
1

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

1
  • Je ne suis pas d'accord. On demande la même chose en France, mais parfois avec des mots différents.
    – SteffX
    Oct 6, 2017 at 16:49
1

A better phrase would be :

Comment s'est passée votre journée de travail ?

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).

5
  • Il était comment, votre journée is a typical native English speaker French mistake ;-)
    – jlliagre
    Oct 6, 2017 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 6, 2017 at 11:14
  • 2
    You are missing the gender issue!
    – jlliagre
    Oct 6, 2017 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 6, 2017 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 6, 2017 at 11:59

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.