Look at these sentences using ça:
Oh! J'ai regardé ça aussi hier.
Oh! I watched that too yesterday.
Les lasagnes? J'adore ça!
Lasagna? I love it!
Ça me dérange quand on fume à côté de moi.
It bothers me when people smoke next to me.
The pronoun ça is a contraction of cela, but it is used much more frequently, particularly in speech or informal writing.
Depending on the context, ça can mean it, this or that.
See also the more advanced C'est vs il/elle est: Saying it is
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
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Ron
Kwiziq community member
3/08/17
J'aime ça usually translates as I love that with ça being the contracted version of cela; however, je l'aime translates as I love it, I love him or I love her. Sometimes it is easier to understand the difference between two phrases simply by study how each translates.
J'espère que cela vous aidera.
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
6/10/16
Ça is a pronoun, "ca" does not exist in French. That said, sometimes capital letters don't include accents, so you might see "Ça veut dire" or "Ca veut dire." They mean exactly the same thing.
Joakim
Kwiziq community member
13 September 2016
1 reply
Ça or il
"Oh! J'ai regardé ça aussi hier." How can we know it is not "Oh! Je le ai regardé aussi hier." (with contractions)? Last time I asked this you pointed me to the c'est vs il est lesson but "ce" is not "ça" so I don't see how that helps.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
14/10/16
Here is the nuance between "J'ai aussi regardé ça hier." and "Je l'ai aussi regardé hier.":
- In the first sentence, "ça" brings emphasis to the thing you watched, therefore translating as "I watched THIS too yesterday.";
- the second sentence is more neutral, and will be translated as "I watched IT too yesterday." .
I hope that helps!
À bientôt !
Joakim
Kwiziq community member
2 June 2016
2 replies
Ça vs il
What's the rule here, i.e. how can we now it is not "il me dérange quand on fume..."
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
2/06/16
Bonjour Joakim !
To know when to use ça versus il/elle, please have a look at the following lesson:
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/when-to-use-cest-or-il-est-elle-est-to-say-it-is
Thanks to your question, we've also added this link to the current lesson.
Merci et à bientôt !
Joakim
Kwiziq community member
2/06/16
nora
Kwiziq community member
4 November 2017
2 replies
ça vs celui/celle-là
In this lesson why was ça preferred over celui-là? Thanks - Nora
Ron
Kwiziq community member
5 November 2017
5/11/17
Since I do not have the precise question referred to, this may be a bit of a guess.
The definitive pronoun «ça» translates as «that, it» ; however, «celui-là» translates to «that one».
Depending on the phrase in question it would be two different senses to the phrase.
Jim
Kwiziq community member
7 November 2017
7/11/17
It will be a matter of context.
Ça (informal) / Cela (formal) -- impersonal pronoun
Celui / celle-là -- demonstrative pronoun
The choice depends upon the context and to what is being referred in the sentence.
Regards,
Alan ( Non-native speaker)