By the end of this lesson you'll be able to say hello and goodbye at any time of day, ask for something politely, and say thank you.
Greetings are the first thing you'll say in any French conversation, and the French take them seriously. Walking into a shop without saying bonjour is considered rude.
Essential words
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| bonjour | bohn-ZHOOR | hello / good day |
| bonsoir | bohn-SWAHR | good evening |
| salut | sah-LEW | hi / bye (informal) |
| au revoir | oh ruh-VWAHR | goodbye |
| merci | mehr-SEE | thank you |
| s'il vous plaît | seel voo PLEH | please (formal) |
| s'il te plaît | seel tuh PLEH | please (informal) |
| bonne soirée | bonn swah-RAY | have a good evening |
Hello: bonjour and bonsoir
Bonjour is made of bon (good) and jour (day), so it's literally "good day". It's the standard hello from the morning until the evening, and you can say it to anyone: a friend, a shopkeeper or your boss.
In the evening, switch to bonsoir. Soir means "evening". There's no exact time to change, but most people switch somewhere around six or seven o'clock, or when it starts to get dark. French has no separate greeting for the afternoon: bonjour covers the whole day.
Salut is the friendly, informal hello. It also works as an informal goodbye, so you can say it both when you arrive and when you leave.
Formal vs informal
French has two registers. The formal one is for strangers, shopkeepers, colleagues, and anyone older than you. The informal one is for friends, family, and people your own age in casual settings.
- Formal: bonjour, au revoir, s'il vous plaît
- Informal: salut (works for both hello and goodbye), s'il te plaît
The difference between s'il vous plaît and s'il te plaît comes from the two words for "you", vous and tu. You'll learn how they work in the lesson on subject pronouns. For now, use s'il vous plaît in a shop or a café, and s'il te plaît with a friend.
Please and thank you
S'il vous plaît literally means "if it pleases you". Put it at the end of a request: Un café, s'il vous plaît. (A coffee, please.) Merci means "thank you", and it works with everyone, formal or informal.
Goodbye
Au revoir is the everyday goodbye, and it's polite enough for any situation. It's written as two words, and it comes from revoir, "to see again".
When you leave in the evening, you can add bonne soirée, "have a good evening". Notice the difference: bonsoir is what you say when you arrive, and bonne soirée is what you say when you go.
Examples
Bonjour, madame !
Hello, ma'am!
Salut, ça va ?
Hi, how's it going? (informal)
Un café, s'il vous plaît.
A coffee, please.
Merci, au revoir !
Thank you, goodbye!
In a café
Here's a whole short exchange, using the words from this lesson.
- Bonsoir, madame ! (Good evening, ma'am!)
- Bonsoir ! (Good evening!)
- Un café, s'il vous plaît. (A coffee, please.)
- Merci, au revoir ! (Thank you, goodbye!)
- Au revoir, bonne soirée ! (Goodbye, have a good evening!)
How the words sound
Each word in the table has a pronunciation hint, and the syllable in capitals gets a little more weight. In bonjour, the j sounds like the s in "measure", and the n isn't pronounced on its own: it changes the sound of the vowel before it. The last letters of plaît and salut are silent. You'll learn more about reading these hints in the lesson on the alphabet and accents.
What's next
Next, the lesson on the alphabet and accents shows you how French letters sound. After that, the lesson on introducing yourself helps you say who you are after your bonjour.