French Greetings and Salutations

Enjoy our French Greetings lesson, a free service. French greetings are some of the first phrases that will you need when learning French. Equally important are the responses to the greetings.

When you visit or live in a French speaking country you will hear these greetings and expressions on a daily basis, so they will quickly become intuitive, by virtue of you hearing them so often.

So you will firstly need to know how to say hello in French. In the various forms. We provide you here with the most common and expressions, salutations and greetings in French.

Another custom of the French in terms of greetings and salutations is that it is customary to greet people as you walk into a shop for example. Particularly in smaller towns and villages. So as you enter a bakery for example, one announces 'bonjour', saying hello to all in the shop. And all will greet you as well. Whether you know them or not.

Likewise if you are out for a walk, you will greet all those who are also walking past.

Check them out!

Hello in French is... bonjour!

You can accelerate your French vocabulary learning to quite phenomenal rates using modern techniques of memorizing, the secrets of which are taught by the great Memory Masters.

Have a look at this picture format, taken from the 200 Words a Day Learn French course to help you remember the last French Greeting on the list:

Hello ! ... bonjour !

(which sounds a bit like "Bon jaw"),

so ... imagine saying,

"Bonjour - I 've hurt the BONe in my JAW

... and then add a cartoon picture!

Hello = Bonjour

bonjour
Learning to greet people in French - how do you say hello in French.
Copyright Transcity Properties Ltd, Exceltra.


French Language Learning with visual Memory Triggers like this makes the memory deeper and the later recall so much stronger.

How do you say Hello in French? Greetings and salutations.

Good day! Good morning! Good afternoon!. . .Bonjour!

Hi!. . .salut!

(the letter t is not pronounced... and you have to pucker your lips as if for a kiss to get the correct sound out of this word...)

Pleased to meet you!. . . Content(males) or Contente(females) de te rencontrer!

More literally 'happy to meet you'. The formal version is. . . Content(males) or Contente(females) de vous rencontrer!
A common, more formal form of this is enchanté
Literally 'enchanted'.

Thank you! ... Merci

Many thanks! Thank you very much!. . . Merci beaucoup!

Good evening!. . .Bonsoir! Bonne soirée!

Good night!. . .Bonne nuit!

Come here! . . . Viens ici!

OK! . . . OK!

How good! Great!. . .C'est bien! Super!

How do you say, 'How are you in French?'

How are you ? ... Comment vas-tu?

This is used in an informal setting. You would use this with your friends, relatives and subordinates. Literally 'how go you?'

How are you ? ... Comment allez-vous?

This is the formal form of the previous French greeting. Literally 'how go you?'

How are you? ... Ça va?

This is literally translated as 'does it go?'. This is a very common French greeting, or response after saying something like 'bonjour'.

I'm doing well ! ... Ça va! Ça va bien!
Literally 'it goes' and 'it goes well'.
This French greeting or salutation is great in that the greeting is the same as the response. The greeting ça va is actually said as a question with the voice inflecting upwards. The response is a statement ça va, meaning 'yes, it is going OK.'

Other useful French greetings and expressions

Good luck!. . .Bonne chance!

Until next time! ... À la prochaine!

See you soon!. . . A bientot ! J'espére te revoir bientot!

Now test yourself. How was your learning of French greetings and salutations

So can you now remember:
  • How do you say hello in French?
  • How do you say hi in French?
  • How do you say how's it going in French?
  • How do you say how are you in French?
  • How do you say I am fine in French?
If you did not remember them all you should consider learning with Memory Triggers. When you learn the word, you are given a number of hooks which act as supports or props. The sooner you put those words into practise the quicker will they become permanently embedded in the mind.

To learn loads of French words super-fast, and have fun and while learning French Greetings you can do so with these memory jogging pictures.

Find out more! Click on the link below to learn more about 200 words a day French language learning.

Now that you know the French greetings try our Free French Lessons | Contact | Home


French Greetings and Salutations -so how do you say hello in French?
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How do you say hello in French - and other French greetings

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