French greetings (Hello in French)
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Sign up for freeAre you going to do a trip in a French speaking country and you would like to know basic greetings ? Perfect ! At the end of this lesson you will be able to sound like a local and to manage all kind of saying "Hello" or "Goodbye".
Lesson outline
Hide- 1.How to say basic morning greetings in French ?
- 1.1.Example dialogue
- 1.1.1.French
- 1.1.2.English
- 2.How to say "how are you doing" in French ?
- 2.1.Example dialogue
- 2.1.1.French
- 2.1.2.English
- 3.Different ways to say "goodbye" in French
- 3.1.Example dialogue
- 3.1.1.French
- 3.1.2.English
- 4.Exercises
- 4.1.Exercise greetings in French
- 4.2.Exercise saying "goodbye" in French
- 4.3.Practice basic greetings
How to say basic morning greetings in French ?
Whether you see a friend or a family member saying kindly greeting is always welcoming. For the beginning of the day there are only few of them used in French. Here we have also listed some expressions used in familiar context.
English | French |
|---|---|
| Hello! | Salut |
| Welcome | Bienvenue |
| Good morning | Bonjour |
| Good morning | Bonne journée |
| Good morning | Bon matin |
| Good morning | Bonne matinée |
| Wake up! (informal) | Réveille-toi! |
| Get-up! (informal) | Lève-toi! |
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Example dialogue
French
Marc: Bonjour, ça va, tu vas travailler ?
Julien: Bonne matinée, je vais très bien. Oui, malheureusement, j'y vais !
English
Marc: Good morning, how are you, are you going to work?
Julien: Good morning, I am very good. Yes, unfortunately, I am going to work!
How to say "how are you doing" in French ?
After you greet somebody, usually the next thing is to ask how that person is doing. In the table below there are some formal and informal questions and answers.
English | French |
|---|---|
| How are you? | Comment vas-tu? |
| Are you well? | Tu vas bien? |
| How are you? | Comment allez-vous? |
| Are you well? | Allez-vous bien? |
| How it's doing? | Comment ça va? |
| What's up? | Ça va? |
| What's new? | Quoi de neuf? |
| Everything good | Tout va bien |
| Very good | Très bien |
| Not so good | Pas si bien |
| Very bad | Très mal |
| So-so | Comme-ci comme-ça |
Example dialogue
French
Marc: Comment vas-tu?
Julien: Tout va bien.
Marc: Parfait, je suis content de l'entendre.
English
Marc: How are you?
Julien: Everything is good.
Marc: Excellent, I am happy to hear that.
Different ways to say "goodbye" in French
About the afternoon or the evening, "Bonsoir" is a "good evening", so you can say it when you leave of someone in the evening. "Bon après-midi is a "good afternoon". Use of these and other greetings depending on what you want to express in a particular moment. As you can see French is rich with greeting expressions.
| English | French |
|---|---|
| Good-bye (informal) | Salut |
| See you soon | À bientôt |
| See you in a minute | À tout de suite |
| See you later | À plus tard |
| Until next time | À la prochaine |
| See you tomorrow | À demain |
| See you next week | À la semaine prochaine |
| Good night | Bonne nuit |
| Good evening | Bonsoir |
Example dialogue
French
Marc: Salut, on se voit ce soir, non?
Julien: J'ai presque oublié. Oui, mais tu te souviens que je pars en vacances demain?
Marc: Bien sûr, alors à plus tard.
English
Marc: Hi, we are going to meet tonight, right?
Julien: I almost forgot. Yes, but you remember I am going on holidays tomorrow ?
Marc: Of course, see you then.
Test your skills with exercises if you think you have mastered this lesson!