French greetings and goodbyes

Level A1

French greetings and goodbyes

You will greet someone and take your leave in two settings: a shop and a friend's home. Choose your expression by what you are doing, the time of day and how familiar you are with the person. You need no previous French: learn these short expressions as whole units.

At a shop in the morning

Imagine entering a shop in the morning: A is the customer and B is the shopkeeper. Bonjour means “Good morning” here; Au revoir means “Goodbye”. Both are suitable with someone you do not know.

These are two moments from the same visit: the first two lines are the arrival; the last two are the departure, after the visit is over. The conversation in between is left out. Tap 🔊 beside each line to hear it, then say the customer's lines and answer as the shopkeeper.

Arriving: Bonjour, Salut or Bonsoir

Bonjour is a daytime greeting: it covers both “Good morning” and “Good afternoon”, so you do not need to change it at noon. Salut is a familiar “Hi”, useful with friends; it can be used in the evening too. Bonsoir means “Good evening”: use it to greet someone in the evening, including in a shop. There is no single exact clock time when everyone switches from Bonjour to Bonsoir.

Listen to Bonjour and Bonsoir in turn: their beginnings sound similar, but the endings differ. Then listen to Salut and repeat the three greetings. You can reply with the same greeting; you do not need to build a longer sentence.

With a friend: meeting, then bedtime

Now imagine staying at a friend's home. You meet in the evening and greet each other with Salut (“Hi”). Later, when you are both going to bed, you say Bonne nuit (“Good night”).

The first pair of lines is the meeting and the second pair is bedtime; they are not four consecutive remarks. Listen and take one person's part. As in English, the usual greeting on arrival in the evening is different from the wish you say before sleep: Bonsoir and Bonne nuit do different jobs here.

Leaving or wishing someone a good night

Au revoir (“Goodbye”) closes a visit and is suitable both by day and in the evening. With friends, Salut can also mean “Bye”: the situation tells you whether contact is beginning or ending. Bonne nuit (“Good night”) wishes someone a restful night, especially before bed; it is not a greeting on arrival. When you arrive in the evening, Bonsoir is the greeting to practise here, while Au revoir is still a possible goodbye at the end of the visit.

You may also hear À bientôt (“See you soon”) when someone hopes or expects to see you again soon, without naming a date. For now, just recognize that last expression as a goodbye; you do not need to use it yourself.

Your turn: choose, then listen

Try a short expression for each situation before checking the examples: (1) greet the shopkeeper in the morning; (2) greet the shopkeeper in the evening; (3) give a familiar greeting to a close friend; (4) leave the shop politely; (5) wish your friend a good night before bed; (6) give a familiar goodbye to that friend. The examples give suitable answers in that order.

Now replay them one by one and decide whether each one opens contact, closes it or wishes someone a good night. For Salut, imagine the friend arriving for example 3 and leaving for example 6: the sound alone does not tell you which meaning is intended.

Keep this guide: Bonjour by day, Bonsoir on arrival in the evening, Au revoir on departure, Bonne nuit before sleep, and Salut with friends when meeting or parting. You can practise both roles in the two visits again without adding any new words.

Practise this lesson