4 - 10 Useful Greetings and Goodbyes in French

 
 

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Intro: Welcome to the French Made Easy podcast, where I give you all the basics you need to speak French clearly and confidently. I'm your host, Mathilde, and I'm a French teacher, mumpreneur, and bread and cheese lover. Join me as I dive into all things French for beginners, and deliver to you bite-sized and easy-to-follow lessons every Tuesday. Let's get started, "on commence"!

Salut à tous! Hi everyone, welcome to episode number 4, numéro quatre, of French Made Easy. Thanks for joining me today!

In this episode, we’ll learn 10 basic greetings and goodbyes. 

Don’t forget to download your episode cheat sheet. Listening and seeing the words at the same time will help you learn them much faster.

Ready? On commence. Let’s get started. 

Here are 3 different ways of greeting someone:

  1. In the morning or in the afternoon, you say BONJOUR. It means hello, but also good morning or good afternoon. Repeat after me: BONJOUR.

  2. In the evening, you say BONSOIR. It means “good evening”. Repeat after me. BONSOIR.

  3. If you are familiar with the person you are greeting, you can also use the word SALUT at any time of the day. It means hi. But it can also used to say bye. Repeat after me. SALUT.

Let’s do a quick recap. To greet someone you can say: 

  1. BONJOUR, in the morning or afternoon

  2. BONSOIR, in the evening 

  3. SALUT at any time of the day, if you are familiar with the person.

Still with me? On continue. Let’s keep going.

Once it’s time for goodbyes, here are a few options:

  1. at any time of the day, you can say AU REVOIR. It means goodbye. Repeat after me. AU REVOIR.

  2. Also at any time of the day and only if you are familiar with the person, you can say SALUT. It means bye (but it also means hi)  Repeat after me SALUT. 

  3. in the morning or afternoon you can simply say BONNE JOURNÉE. It means have a good day. Repeat after me BONNE JOURNÉE.

  4. in the evening, you can say BONNE SOIRÉE.  It means have a good evening. Repeat after me: BONNE SOIREE.

  5. at night, just before bedtime, you say BONNE NUIT. Repeat after me. BONNE NUIT.

Parfait. Perfect. Now let’s do a quick recap. 

To say goodbye to someone, you can say:

  1. AU REVOIR, anytime of the day ,

  2. SALUT, any time of the day if you are familiar with the person

  3. BONNE JOURNÉE, to wish someone a good day

  4. BONNE SOIRÉE, to wish someone a good evening or

  5. BONNE NUIT, to wish someone a good night.

Stay with me, I’ve got a few more things to teach you! 

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN…

If are leaving someone but meeting again soon, you can say:

  1. À BIENTÔT, which means see you soon. Repeat after me. À BIENTÔT.

  2. À TOUT À L’HEURE. Which means see you later. Only use this if you are going to meet again on the same day.  À TOUT À L’HEURE.

  3. À DEMAIN. which means see you tomorrow. À DEMAIN. Obviously only use this if you are going to meet the following day.

Let’s do a quick recap:

  1. To say “see you soon“, say: À BIENTÔT

  2. To say “see you later”, say: À TOUT À L’HEURE

  3. To say “see you tomorrow”, say: À DEMAIN

You’ve done it! Très bien. Well done.  

Let’s review the words one more time before we wrap up this episode.

Répétez après moi une dernière fois. Repeat after me one last time. 

  • BONJOUR: Hello.

  • BONSOIR: Good evening.

  • SALUT: Hi/bye.

  • AU REVOIR: Goodbye.

  • BONNE JOURNÉE: Have a good day.

  • BONNE SOIRÉE: Have a good evening.

  • BONNE NUIT: Have a good night.

  • À BIENTÔT: See you soon.

  • À TOUT À L’HEURE: See you later.

  • À DEMAIN: See you tomorrow.

There you have them, 10 basic greetings and goodbyes!

Alright, that's it for this episode, thank you so much for listening. Don’t forget to download your lesson’s exercises by clicking the link in the episode’s notes and make sure you hit subscribe so you don't miss out on any new episodes. And if you are enjoying this podcast, I'd really appreciate a quick rating and review. 

Merci beaucoup et a bientôt. 

Mathilde Kien50 Comments