How to greet a French Hotel receptionist.

I stayed in Paris for one week in April last.

I returned to the same hotel in October, also for one week.
On the third day, in the evening, I returned late. The receptionist was one who recognized me from my last stay, he stood up with a big smile and shaked my hands and said something "ca va´´´" .... something :-)

I also remembered him very soon, but failed to say something. Luckily I shaked hands with him and smiled --
I now have a good friend in Paris, but he is talking english poorly :-(

Questions:

A)
What do you say when you meet a good friend you dont have seen on a long time in France?

(B)
Feel free to correct my english ... I am in a learning process from norsk to english....)

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EducatorPermalink Reply by stu harris on December 7, 2010 at 11:57pm

Well, with due respect, this is not a good friend -- it's somebody you have a commercial/business relationship with who is acting friendly, and good for him.

So for a start, this person is VOUS, not TU. Do you have two words for you in Norwegian? Nothing special is required in the circumstances. Bonsoir, vous allez bien? would be sufficient.

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Permalink Reply by Arild Krovoll on December 8, 2010 at 8:16am

a)
Please explain :
"this person is VOUS, not TU"

b)
"Do you have two words for you in Norwegian?"

du and De ?

Ok, earlier that day, I observed two elder Parisiens, they met and greeted each other with a big smile and a warm handshake. The said something like "ca va´´´"

The guy at the hotel acted also just like that....

Someone who knows what this ca va could be?

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Permalink Reply by Benoît on December 8, 2010 at 3:03pm

In the "French grammar" section of this website you will find an explanation of "When to use 'tu' and 'vous'?" (I'm French and I found this explanation very clear and well done)

"Ca va ?" or "Comment allez-vous ?" (or "Comment vas-tu ?") means "How are you?"
You can answer:
"Bien, merci. Et Vous ?" (or "Bien, merci. Et toi ?")

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Permalink Reply by Brandon Soler on January 20, 2011 at 3:16am

Yes a polite but casual way to reply to Ca va is definitely "Ca va bien, merci, et toi?" or simply, "Ca va" as a reply - it can be both a question and a reply. Examples:

More Formal:

Person A: "Bonjour Monsieur, Comment allez-vous?" (literally, "Hello Sir, How are you?")
Person B: "Bonjour! Tres bien merci, et vous?" ("Hello! Very well thanks, and you?")

More Casual:

Person A: "Salut! Ca va?" ("Hi! How are you?")

Person B: "Salut! Ca va bien merci, et toi?"(Hi!, I'm well thanks, and you?")

Alternate response for Person B: "Salut! Ca va, et toi?" (Hi!, I'm well, and you?")

You can see in the above examples (the casual forms are how I speak with my family and would speak to friends) that ca va can be a question and response. If neither of you are very talkative the question and response would be understandable as simply: