1.1. Saluer les gens | Serious French

Greeting People | Serious French

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1.1.1. The Main Idea

To greet people in French, use expressions such as bonjour, salut, bonsoir, and enchanté(e).

Bonjour.	Hello. / Good morning. / Good afternoon.
Salut.	Hi. / Bye. informal
Bonsoir.	Good evening.
Enchanté.	Nice to meet you. masculine speaker
Enchantée.	Nice to meet you. feminine speaker

Use bonjour in most polite everyday situations. It is the all-purpose front door of French greetings.

1.1.2. Basic Greetings

Bonjour.	Hello. / Good morning. / Good afternoon.
Salut.	Hi. informal
Bonsoir.	Good evening.
Coucou.	Hi / hey. very informal
Allô ?	Hello? on the phone
Rebonjour.	Hello again.

1.1.3. Formal and Informal Greetings

Use bonjour with strangers, professors, workers, older people, or in polite situations.

Bonjour, monsieur.	Hello, sir.
Bonjour, madame.	Hello, ma’am.
Bonjour, professeur.	Hello, professor.
Bonjour, tout le monde.	Hello, everyone.

Use salut with friends, classmates, people your age, or people you know well.

Salut !	Hi!
Salut, ça va ?	Hi, how are you?
Salut, tout le monde !	Hi, everyone!
Salut, à plus tard !	Bye, see you later!

1.1.4. Greeting by Time of Day

Bonjour.	Hello. / Good morning. / Good afternoon.
Bonsoir.	Good evening.
Bonne journée.	Have a good day.
Bonne soirée.	Have a good evening.
Bonne nuit.	Good night.

Important difference:

Bonjour.	Greeting: hello / good morning / good afternoon.
Bonne journée.	Goodbye wish: have a good day.
Bonsoir.	Greeting: good evening.
Bonne soirée.	Goodbye wish: have a good evening.
Bonne nuit.	Good night, usually before sleeping.

1.1.5. Saying Nice to Meet You

Use enchanté(e) when meeting someone for the first time.

Enchanté.	Nice to meet you. masculine speaker
Enchantée.	Nice to meet you. feminine speaker
Ravi de vous rencontrer.	Nice to meet you. masculine speaker, formal
Ravie de vous rencontrer.	Nice to meet you. feminine speaker, formal
Ravi de te rencontrer.	Nice to meet you. masculine speaker, informal
Ravie de te rencontrer.	Nice to meet you. feminine speaker, informal

1.1.6. Asking How Someone Is

Ça va ?	How are you? / Is it going okay? informal
Comment ça va ?	How are you?
Comment vas-tu ?	How are you? informal, more formal style
Comment allez-vous ?	How are you? formal or plural
Tu vas bien ?	Are you doing well? informal
Vous allez bien ?	Are you doing well? formal or plural

1.1.7. Responding to Ça Va

Ça va.	I’m okay. / It’s going okay.
Ça va bien.	I’m doing well.
Très bien, merci.	Very well, thank you.
Pas mal.	Not bad.
Comme ci, comme ça.	So-so.
Pas très bien.	Not very well.
Ça ne va pas.	I’m not okay.

To be polite, ask back:

Et toi ?	And you? informal
Et vous ?	And you? formal or plural
Moi aussi.	Me too.
Merci.	Thank you.

1.1.8. Greeting a Group

Bonjour à tous.	Hello everyone. masculine or mixed group
Bonjour à toutes.	Hello everyone. feminine group
Bonjour tout le monde.	Hello everyone.
Salut tout le monde.	Hi everyone. informal
Bonsoir à tous.	Good evening everyone. masculine or mixed group
Bonsoir à toutes.	Good evening everyone. feminine group

1.1.9. Tu or Vous?

Use tu for informal singular you.

Salut, tu vas bien ?	Hi, are you doing well?
Comment vas-tu ?	How are you?
Et toi ?	And you?

Use vous for formal you or plural you.

Bonjour, vous allez bien ?	Hello, are you doing well?
Comment allez-vous ?	How are you?
Et vous ?	And you?

Tiny social compass:

Use Tu	Use Vous
friend	professor
classmate you know	stranger
family member	worker / staff
child	several people

1.1.10. Core Patterns

Bonjour.	Hello.
Salut.	Hi. informal
Bonsoir.	Good evening.
Ça va ?	How are you?
Ça va bien.	I’m doing well.
Très bien, merci.	Very well, thank you.
Et toi ?	And you? informal
Et vous ?	And you? formal or plural
Enchanté(e).	Nice to meet you.
Bonjour, tout le monde.	Hello, everyone.

1.1.11. Practice

Hello.
Hi. informal
Good evening.
How are you? informal
How are you? formal
I’m doing well.
Very well, thank you.
And you? informal
Nice to meet you. masculine speaker
Hello, everyone.

1.1.12. Answers

Hello.	Bonjour.
Hi. informal	Salut.
Good evening.	Bonsoir.
How are you? informal	Ça va ?
How are you? formal	Comment allez-vous ?
I’m doing well.	Ça va bien.
Very well, thank you.	Très bien, merci.
And you? informal	Et toi ?
Nice to meet you. masculine speaker	Enchanté.
Hello, everyone.	Bonjour, tout le monde.

1.1.13. Short Dialogue

A : Bonjour !	A: Hello!
B : Bonjour ! Ça va ?	B: Hello! How are you?
A : Ça va bien, merci. Et toi ?	A: I’m doing well, thank you. And you?
B : Très bien, merci.	B: Very well, thank you.
A : Enchanté.	A: Nice to meet you. masculine speaker
B : Enchantée.	B: Nice to meet you. feminine speaker

1.1.14. Checkpoint

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to greet people formally and informally, ask how someone is, respond politely, greet a group, say nice to meet you, and choose between tu and vous in basic greeting situations.