French word

çà

Pronunciation

IPA/sa/

Meaning

  • adverbhere and there

Example

On voit des taches çà et là sur la robe.

You can see stains here and there on the dress.

Illustration for çà (here and there)

More examples

Des feuilles tombent çà et là dans la cour.

Leaves are falling here and there in the courtyard.

Core concept

Small marks appear in separate spots across a surface, with space between one spot and the next.

Common phrases

  • çà et là

    here and there

Similar words

ici et là: Here and there in everyday usage.
par-ci par-là: Scattered around in a conversational way.
de-ci de-là: Sparse and scattered in different places.

Definition in French

Signifie par endroits, employé surtout dans la locution figée «çà et là».

Word origin

Çà is inherited from Old French ça, an old place adverb that became restricted mainly to the fixed coordination çà et là.

Usage tips

  • The grave accent distinguishes adverbial çà from ça, the common pronoun found in phrases such as ça va.

Opposites

Word lists with this word