Comment s'est passé ton week-end ?
The English phrase "how was your weekend?" can be translated into French as Comment s'est passé ton week-end ?
This question is used to ask someone about the events and quality of their recent Saturday and Sunday. You can say Comment s'est passé ton weekend? to mean "How did your weekend go?", or use As-tu passé un bon weekend? to ask "Did you have a good weekend?"
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase Comment s'est passé ton week-end ? literally translates to "How did your weekend pass itself?" because it uses the reflexive verb se passer.
Which one should you use?
While Comment était ton week-end ? is grammatically possible, Comment s'est passé ton week-end ? is the much more natural and common way to ask this in French.
How does it change in a sentence?
When addressing a stranger, a superior or a group of people, use votre instead of ton in the phrase Comment s'est passé votre week-end ?
When do people say it?
When someone asks you this, a common way to respond is to use the reflexive verb se passer in the third person singular, such as by saying Il s'est bien passé, merci. (It went well, thanks.).
Did you know?
- In Quebec, Canada, people almost exclusively use fin de semaine instead of week-end. Using the English term in Quebec can sometimes be seen as an unnecessary anglicism.
- Although the French language is famous for its purism, the word week-end is a direct loanword from English. It is so widely accepted that it appears in nearly all modern French dictionaries.
- The word comment is formed by combining comme with the suffix -ment, which is the same suffix used to create most French adverbs. This makes the word for 'how' structurally similar to words like 'slowly' or 'happily'.
Examples in context
- Vous avez passé un bon weekend? Comment était votre weekend?Did you have a good weekend? How was your weekend?
- Salut! Dis-moi, comment était ton weekend?Hi! Tell me, how was your weekend?
- Bonjour! Comment était ton weekend?Hello! How was your weekend?
- Coucou! Comment s'est passé ton weekend?Hey! How did your weekend go?
- Alors, comment s'est passé ton week-end ?So, how was your weekend?
Example conversation
Nathan and Chloé meet at the office on Monday morning.
- NathanSalut Chloé, comment s'est passé ton week-end ?Hi Chloé, how was your weekend?
- ChloéC'était super, merci ! Et toi ?It was great, thanks! And you?
- NathanTrès calme, je suis resté à la maison.Very quiet, I stayed at home.
- ChloéC'est bien aussi de se reposer.It is also good to rest.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries comment, ton, week-end, CC BY-SA 4.0.
