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- "Docteur, comment va-t-il ?"
23 Comments
"Va-t-il" alone does mean "is he going," but you have to look at the whole phrase.
"Où va-t-il" where is he going? "Comment va-t-il" how is he doing?
This is idiomatic in French. You can't always translate word-for-word from French to English, because the two languages have different ways of saying things.
b_adger
969
There is nothing wrong with "how is he going" vs "how is he doing", but probably not "how is it going". The first two are asking after the health of a third party, but the latter is more about asking after the person you are speaking to.
Nicola526448
1651
Well you can ask how he is but if your French is anything like mine you won't understand a word of the reply!
SueWaller
616
In Australia we would say "how is he going" more often than the American "how is he doing"