French grammar - The demonstrative pronoun ça

The demonstrative pronoun ça

The word ça means 'it', 'this' or 'that'.

It is actually a contraction of cela, which means 'that' or 'that there'.

It is familiar but very commonly used colloquially, especially in idiomatic expressions.

And it can be used both as a subject and object.

Examples:
	Comment ça va ? How is it going? OR How are you?
	Ça va ? Oui, ça va bien. Is it going (OK)? Yes, it is going fine.
	Ça dépend. It depends. dépendre (verb) means 'to depend'
	C'est ça. That's it.
	Ça alors ! Wow! OR So that is how it is! alors means 'so' (Used widely and has in fact many different and subtle meanings)
	Qu'est-ce que c'est que ça ? What is that?
	Ça marche ! That works! marcher (verb) means 'to work' or 'to walk'
	Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire ? What does it mean? literally 'What does it want to say?' vouloir dire means (literally) 'to want to say' but also 'to mean'
	Ça m'aide beaucoup. It helps me a lot. aider (verb) means 'to help'
	Est-ce que vous pouvez me donner un peu de ça ? Can you (formal) give me some of that?
	La grammaire française ? Je trouve ça trop difficile ! French grammar? I find it too difficult! trouver (verb) means 'to find'
	Les escargots ? J'adore ça ! Snails? I love that! Can even be used as a plural pronoun escargot (m) means 'snail'
	Ça ne m'intéresse pas. It does not interest me. intéresser (verb) means 'to interest'
	Ça se passe comment ? How does it happen? se passer (reflexive verb) means 'to happen' or 'to take place'
	Bravo, ça commence bien. Well done, it's off to a good start.
	On peut dire ça. You could say that. dire (verb) means 'to say'
	Comme ça ! Like that! comme means 'like' or 'in (that/this) way'
	C'est comme ça. It's like that. OR That is the way it is.
	La vie, c'est comme ça. Life - it is like that. vie (f) means 'life'
	Voyez-vous ce monsieur ? – Qui ça ? Do you (formal) see this gentleman? - Who is that?