Bonjour, tout le monde ! As you may know, I'm a French Teacher and today I'd like to introduce the topic of my first French lesson.
"Greetings: saying hello and goodbye"
In French, you would use the following expressions to say hello depending on the time of the day:
- Morning: BONJOUR
- Midday: BONJOUR / BON APRÈS-MIDI
- Evening: BONSOIR
- Bedtime: BONNE NUIT
If you want to show respect to someone older than you or you don't know the person, you add:
- Bonjour, MONSIEUR Leroy = Hello, MR. Leroy.
- Bon après-midi, MADAME Dubois = Hello, MRS. Dubois.
- Bonsoir, MADEMOISELLE Fontaine = Good evening, MS. Fontaine
But to greet your friends and family:
- COUCOU, Colette ! = HEY THERE, Colette!
- SALUT, Benoît ! = HI, Benoît!
Now, usually when you say hello to someone you would ask them how they're are doing:
Formal: - Bonjour, Madame Favier. COMMENT ALLEZ-VOUS ? = Hello, Mrs. Favier. HOW ARE YOU?
Informal: - Salut, Pauline. ÇA VA ? = Hi, Pauline. WHAT'S UP?
The answer to that previous question would be:
Formal: - JE VAIS TRÈS BIEN, merci = I'M VERY WELL, thank you
- JE NE VAIS PAS BIEN = I'M NOT DOING WELL
Informal: - ÇA VA BIEN = I'M FINE
- ÇA (NE) VA PAS = I'M NOT DOING FINE
Finally, to say goodbye:
- AU REVOIR = Goodbye
- À BIENTÔT = Goodbye / See you soon
- À DEMAIN = See you tomorrow
- À PLUS TARD = See you later
Thank you so much for stoping by and I hope you find this helpful. Au revoir, mes amis !