Greetings and introductions in French

tu or vous?

French has two words for "you":

  • tu for friends, family, children and people your own age in casual settings.
  • vous for strangers, shop staff and anyone you'd address formally, and for more than one person.

So some phrases come in pairs: Comment allez-vous ? is the formal "How are you?", Ça va ? the casual one.

Bonjour, all day

Bonjour covers both "good morning" and "good afternoon". From the evening on, people say Bonsoir. Saying Bonjour when you walk into a shop is expected; skipping it comes across as rude.

Salut both ways

Salut is informal and means both "hi" and "bye".

Ça va

Ça va ? — How's it going? The answer can be the same two words: Ça va. — Fine.

Practise with flashcards

Every word on this page, with its pronunciation and an example sentence, is in the deck below. Add it to your decks and Echoes will bring each card back just before you would forget it.

French Greetings and Introductions (A1)

a118 words

18 everyday phrases for saying hello and goodbye and introducing yourself in French.

  • Bonjour · hello; good morning, good afternoon
  • Salut · hi; bye (informal)
  • Bonsoir · Good evening
  • Bonne nuit · Good night
  • Au revoir · Goodbye
  • À plus tard · See you later
Show all words
WordMeaningExample
Bonjour/bɔ̃ʒuʁ/hello; good morning, good afternoonBonjour, je suis Sara.Hello, I'm Sara.
Salut/saly/hi; bye (informal)Salut, Tom !Hi, Tom!
Bonsoir/bɔ̃swaʁ/Good eveningBonsoir à tous.Good evening, everyone.
Bonne nuit/bɔn nɥi/Good nightBonne nuit, dors bien !Good night, sleep well!
Au revoir/o ʁəvwaʁ/GoodbyeAu revoir, à demain.Goodbye, see you tomorrow.
À plus tard/a ply taʁ/See you laterJe dois y aller. À plus tard !I have to go. See you later!
Comment allez-vous ? / Ça va ?/kɔmɑ̃ tale vu / sa va/How are you? (formal / informal)Salut Anna, ça va ?Hi Anna, how are you?
Ça va bien, merci./sa va bjɛ̃ mɛʁsi/I'm fine, thanks.Ça va bien, merci. Et toi ?I'm fine, thanks. And you?
Et toi ? / Et vous ?/e twa / e vu/And you? (informal / formal)Je vais bien, et toi ?I'm good, and you?
Merci/mɛʁsi/Thank youMerci pour ton aide.Thank you for your help.
De rien/də ʁjɛ̃/You're welcomeMerci ! – De rien.Thanks! – You're welcome.
S'il vous plaît / S'il te plaît/sil vu plɛ / sil tə plɛ/please (formal / informal)Un café, s'il vous plaît.A coffee, please.
Excusez-moi/ɛkskyze mwa/Excuse meExcusez-moi, où se trouve la gare ?Excuse me, where is the station?
Pardon / Désolé/paʁdɔ̃ / dezɔle/SorryDésolé, je suis en retard.Sorry, I'm late.
Je m'appelle …/ʒə mapɛl/My name is …Je m'appelle Ali.My name is Ali.
Comment tu t'appelles ?/kɔmɑ̃ ty tapɛl/What's your name?Salut ! Comment tu t'appelles ?Hi! What's your name?
Enchanté !/ɑ̃ʃɑ̃te/Nice to meet youJe suis David. – Enchanté !I'm David. – Nice to meet you!
Tu viens d'où ?/ty vjɛ̃ du/Where are you from?Tu viens d'où ? – Je viens du Canada.Where are you from? – I'm from Canada.