ça

• çā (NW Gheg)^[1]

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃa/

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

ça

1. alternative form of çë (“what”)

A variant of çaj.

ça

1. (Gheg) to break, split

   me ça dru ― to chop some wood

Inherited from Latin *ecce hāc. Compare French çà.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈsa]
• Homophone: sa

ça

1. (archaic) here; in this place

• “ça”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “ça”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “ça” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “ça” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• IPA^(key): /sa/

  • Audio (France):

    (file)

• (Canada) IPA^(key): [sɑ], [sɔ]

  • Audio (Quebec):

    (file)

• (Louisiana) IPA^(key): /sa/, /ha/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -sa, -a
• Homophones: çà, ç'a, sa

Syncopic contraction of cela (“that”), from ce +‎ -là. Compare French ceci (“this”).

ça n

1. (informal) that (distal demonstrative pronoun)

   Synonym: cela

   J'aimerais ça. ― I'd like that.

2. (informal) this (proximal demonstrative pronoun)

   Synonym: ceci

   Je veux ça. ― I want this.

3. (informal) it (alternative form of ce as a subject of être in tenses other than the present and imperfect indicative)

   Ça serait mieux que ça soit toi qui lui dises. ― It would be better if you told him yourself.

4. (informal, in dislocation) it, that, they, them (reduplicated pronoun referring to an indefinite or generic noun phrase)

   Un peu de vin ça ferait pas de mal. ― A little wine wouldn't hurt.

   L'eau ça mouille, le feu ça brûle. ― Water's wet, fire burns (cliché obviously true statement)

   J'aime bien ça, moi, les pâtes. ― I do like pasta.

5. (impersonal, in some contexts, dialectal) it (dummy pronoun)

   Synonym: il

   Ça va. ― It's okay.

   Ça mouille dehors. ― It's raining outside.

6. used to indicate actions happening generally without specifying an agent, like on but with a greater suggestion of mass, generalized, unattributable, or confused action; people

   Partout ça criait, ça hurlait, ça se battait. ― There was shouting, screaming, fighting everywhere.

   • 1945, Yves Montand, “Rue Lepic”, in Les Chansons d'Yves Montand:

     Et ça grouille et ça vit dans cette vieille rue d'Paris.

     And people hustle and it is lively in that old Paris street.

7. creates isolated emphatic forms of the interrogatives qui, où, quand, comment and pourquoi

   Synonyms: (formal) cela, donc

   Qui ça, où ça? ― Who, where?

   Comment ça? ― How come?

8. (Louisiana) he, she, it (third-person singular subject pronoun)

   Synonyms: il m or f, alle f — Louisiana

   • 2010, Albert Valdman, Kevin J. Rottet, Barry Jean Ancelet, Richard Guidry, Thomas A. Klingler, Amanda LaFleur, Tamara Lindner, Michael D. Picone, Dominique Ryon, editors, Dictionary of Louisiana French: as Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian communities, page 95:

     Alle est avec eusse asteur parce qu’alle est malade un petit peu. so^[sic] alle couche là. Ça a quatre-vingts-six ans.

     She is with them now because she is a bit sick. So, she sleeps over there. She is eighty-six years old.

9. (Louisiana) him, her, it (third-person singular object pronoun)

   Synonyms: le m or f, la f, li m — Louisiana

10. (Louisiana) they (third-person plural subject pronoun)

    Synonyms: eusse, eux, eux-autres, ils, on — Louisiana

    Comment ça se dit ça? ― What do they call that?

11. (Louisiana) them (third-person plural object pronoun)

    Synonyms: eusse, eux, eux-autres — Louisiana

12. (Louisiana, interrogative) what

    Ça ina? ― What's the matter?

13. (Louisiana, relative) alternative form of ça que (“that which, what”)

    Un cocodrie mange ça (qu')y veut. ― An alligator eats what it wants.

• Often employed tonically in Louisiana.

• Louisiana Creole: ça, ha

Calque of German Es (“id”), substantivized from the pronoun.

ça m (uncountable)

1. (psychoanalysis) id

• “ça”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
• Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities (2009; →ISBN; →ISBN)

• çay

From Persian چای (čây), from Sinitic 茶 (chá).

ça (3rd person possessive [please provide], plural [please provide])

1. tea

• Tenishev, Edhem (1976), “ça”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká [Grammar of Salar], Moscow, page 306