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French Expression of the Day: Ça passe

The Local France
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French Expression of the Day: Ça passe
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

This phrase is one you'll hear thrown into conversation a lot, but it can have several different meanings.

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Why do I need to know ça passe?

Because you’ll hear people throwing around this phrase in all sorts of contexts and you want to know the best times to use it yourself

What does it mean?

Ça passe usually pronounced sah pass - literally means it fits or it passes. You can use it in the literal sense to mean that something literally passes through another thing, but in the version you’ll hear more frequently it means “it works," “it counts,” or "it's manageable" and usually this phrase is spoken in a way to manner that sounds like it's something to be shrugged off, as if it is no big deal.

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If you want to be more excited about saying ça passe, you can say ça passe crème, which means “it works perfectly,” and it references cream, a substance that is easy to swallow and does not require any chewing.

For instance, you might be trying to park your car and your friend doubts your ability to park your car in the smaller than average spot ahead of you: “T'es sûr que tu rentres là, dans cette place?” (Are you sure you can fit into that spot?) and you respond: “Oui, ça passe crème, t’inquiètes.” (yeah it fits perfectly, don't worry).

Another way to say this phrase with enthusiasm is to say ça passe large , this might work in a scenario when someone offers to pick a restaurant for you nonchalantly, but then they happen to choose your favourite place. They might ask you “ça passe?” and you say “Oui, ça passe large.”

A lot of times you might hear people use this phrase to ask if something counts - maybe you asked your American friend if you can just paint on some cat whiskers as your costume to the Halloween party: “Je peux me déguiser que avec des moustaches de chat peintes pour la fête Halloween?” And your American friend says absolutely not: “Non, ça passe pas comme déguisement !

Finally, you might want to say ça passe in the context of reassuring someone things will work out or be okay.

Maybe your partner locked the keys in the house, and they are worried about how late at night it is: "Mais il est 20h tu penses qu’un serrurier peut venir ce soir?" ("But it is 8pm, do you think a locksmith can come tonight?") And you reply "Oui, ça passe."

You might also hear it as part of the phrase ça passe ou ça casse - in which case it has a slightly different meaning - it's make or break. 

Use it like this

“Le temps d'attente pour le film va être de deux heures. Tu penses que tu peux supporter ça ?” “Oui, ça passe.”– “The wait time for the movie is about two hours. Do you think you can handle that?” “Yes, that works.”

Le quartier n'est pas très accessible aux fauteuils roulants, mais il y a une rue en particulier où ça passe bien. – The neighbourhood is not very wheelchair accessible, but there is one street in particular that is.

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"Le manque de sommeil avec le nouveau bébé, vous reposez-vous suffisamment ?" "Oui, ça passe pour l'instant." – "The lack of sleep with the new baby...are you getting enough rest?" "Yeah, it's manageable for now."

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