The expression How come? can be expressed in different ways in French, depending on the level of speech as well as whether it's followed by a conjugated verb or not.
How come?
Elle est déprimée. - Comment ça se fait?
She is depressed. - How come?
Elle est déprimée. - Comment cela se fait-il ?
She is depressed. - How come?
Note that to express How come? on its own, there are two ways:
- The unformal, familiar phrase Comment ça se fait ?
OR
- the more elegant, formal Comment cela se fait-il ?
Note the use of inverted question form to emphasise the elegant structure.
How come [something happens]? / How is it that [something happens]?
Comment ça se fait qu'elle soit si méchante?
How come she is so mean?
Comment se fait-il qu'elle soit si méchante?
How come she is so mean?
Comment ça se fait que vous ayez tous les yeux bleus?
How come you all have blue eyes?
Comment se fait-il que vous ayez tous les yeux bleus ?
How come you all have blue eyes?
Note that to express how come / how is it that ...?, followed by a conjugated verb in French, you can either use:
- the more familiar Comment ça se fait que ... ?
OR
- the more elegant Comment se fait-il que ... ?
Note the use of inverted question form to emphasise the elegant structure.
ATTENTION:
In both cases, the conjugated verb after que will be in Le Subjonctif Présent or Passé.
Note that Comment cela se fait que ... ? can be heard sometimes, however it's grammatically incorrect as the way to construct this form is by using the inversion -il, and NOT cela.
Same issue with Comment cela se fait-il que ... ? which is simply redundant, as it literally means How come this that ...?
Read: how to conjugate the subjunctive for regular verbs.
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Comment se fait-il que vous ayez tous les yeux bleus ?
How come you all have blue eyes?
Elle est déprimée. - Comment ça se fait?
She is depressed. - How come?
Comment ça se fait qu'elle soit si méchante?
How come she is so mean?
Comment ça se fait que tu parles français?
How come you speak French?
Comment se fait-il que tu parles français?
How come you speak French?
Comment ça se fait que vous ayez tous les yeux bleus?
How come you all have blue eyes?
Comment se fait-il qu'elle soit si méchante?
How come she is so mean?
Elle est déprimée. - Comment cela se fait-il ?
She is depressed. - How come?
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Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
9/05/17
You wouldn't say "Comment cela se fait que" because "cela" is actually more elegant, "higher standard" than "ça".
Therefore, when you choose to use "cela" you will also use the more elegant question form that is the inverted form in French:
"Comment cela se fait-il que ?"
And in the elegant form, you can also choose to drop "cela" altogether, as it's repeated with "il":
"Comment se fait-il que ?"
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
16 September 2016
1 reply
Johnny asked: "How come "Comment cela se fait" is wrong?"
Bonjour Johnny !
"Comment cela se fait que ... ?" can indeed be used by some French people, however it's grammatically incorrect as the way to construct the elegant form is through the use of the inversion "-il", and NOT cela.
You can also encounter "Comment cela se fait-il que ... ?" which is simply redundant, as it literally means "How come this that ...?"
However, given the fact that some people do use that incorrect form, I decided to change our marking to Half Correct, as we still aim to teach the correct French ;)
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
22/09/16
Bonjour Johnny !
"Comment cela se fait que ... ?" can indeed be used by some French people, however it's grammatically incorrect as the way to construct the elegant form is through the use of the inversion "-il", and NOT cela.
You can also encounter "Comment cela se fait-il que ... ?" which is simply redundant, as it literally means "How come this that ...?"
However, given the fact that some people do use that incorrect form, I decided to change our marking to Half Correct, as we still aim to teach the correct French ;)
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Almut
Kwiziq community member
22/05/16
Christopher
Kwiziq community member
23/05/16
Almut
Kwiziq community member
23/05/16
However, I have the impression that it is mostly the first case (faire que + indicatif) that is applicable here. Is it because it is a question that it turns into subjonctif?
Christopher
Kwiziq community member
24/05/16
You can find great examples here and on https://www.lawlessfrench.com/.
Almut
Kwiziq community member
24/05/16
I found many interesting things there! Just not the answer to my question. But I'll keep searching... :-)
Christopher
Kwiziq community member
25/05/16
I still don't quite understand your original question, it's not clear what you're asking is causing the subjunctive but just the fact that it's posting a question implies uncertainty which normally requires subjunctive.
Good luck
John
Kwiziq community member
6 April 2018
5 replies
How come?
To the question (How come) Pauline porte cette robe? My answer 'Comment cela se fait-il que....' is rejected for 'Comment ca se fait'. Yet in the lesson we are told that my answer is the more 'elegant' French. Please explain.
Chris
Kwiziq community member
6 April 2018
6/04/18
Hi John,
if you examine the lesson carefully you will see toward the end that the correct answer is:
Comment se fait-il que.... OR Comment ça se fait que...
The answer "comment cela se fait-il..." is grammatically not correct even though sometimes used colloquially.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Chris
Kwiziq community member
6 April 2018
6/04/18
I realize that in the beginning of the lesson it seems to say that "comment cela se fait-il?" is more elegant. However this isn't born out later and i. The examples.
I guess this should be clarified in the lesson.
-- Chris.
Alan
Kwiziq community member
6 April 2018
6/04/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
6 April 2018
6/04/18
Yes, I know. But that needs to be stated more clearly.
Alan
Kwiziq community member
6 April 2018
6/04/18