Comprendre et utiliser l’expression « ça va sans dire »
A2 French listening practice · French from France · Curated for beginners
What does “ça va sans dire” mean in French?
Ça va sans dire means something is so obvious it doesn’t even need to be said. It’s the everyday French way to agree emphatically — of course, naturally, no question. The English “it goes without saying” is a near word-for-word translation of this very phrase, which makes it one of the most satisfying expressions to recognize as a learner: you already know it, you just didn’t know it was French.
Use it as a quick reply: Est-ce qu’on prend un dessert ? — Ça va sans dire ! (obviously yes). Or to confirm you did the obvious thing: did you buy the milk? — ça va sans dire, that’s literally why I went. There’s a common spoken variant ça va s’en dire that you’ll see written, but the standard, “correct” form is ça va sans dire.