Greeting People
Français | English |
Écouter | Listen |
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, Ã 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.
1.1.15. Try It Out
Try saying this in French:
Hello. How are you?
I’m doing well, thank you.
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Possible answer:
Next lesson: 1.2. Comment tu t’appelles ?
Back to: Module 1: Ça commence!