Expressions for greeting and thanking are essential for communication. Depending on the degree of familiarity and the situation, we will choose to express ourselves in a more or less formal way. Here is a list of useful expressions for greeting and thanking in French.
FORMAL GREETINGS IN FRENCH
→ Morning and afternoon:
- Bonjour Monsieur. – Good morning Sir.
- Bonjour Madame. – Good morning Madam.
- Bonjour Vincent, comment allez-vous ? – Good morning Vincent, how are you?
- Bonjour Monsieur Frais, comment allez-vous ? – Good morning Mrs. Frais, how are you?
→ Evening:
- Bonsoir Monsieur. – Good evening Sir.
- Bonsoir Madame. – Good evening Madam.
- Bonsoir Madame Pin, comment allez-vous ? – Good evening Mrs. Pin, how are you?
→ To part:
- Bonne journée ! – Have a nice day!
- Je vous souhaite une bonne journée. – I wish you a good day.
- Bonne soirée ! – Have a nice evening!
- Je vous souhaite une bonne soirée. – I wish you a good evening.
- Bon après-midi ! – Good afternoon!
- Au revoir. – Goodbye.
- À bientôt. – See you soon.
→ To say thank you:
- Merci. – Thank you.
- Merci beaucoup. – Thank you very much.
- Je vous remercie. – Thank you.
- Merci beaucoup, c’est très gentil. – Thank you very much, that’s very kind.
- Merci infiniment. C’est vraiment très gentil. – Thank you very much. That’s really very kind.
In a familiar context (with friends, family, classmates, work colleagues of the same age) we generally prefer to use the informal “tu”.
INFORMAL GREETINGS IN FRENCH
→ Morning, noon and evening
- Salut, tu vas bien ? – Hi, are you well?
- Bonjour. – Good morning.
- Salut, ça va ? – Hi, how are you?
- Salut, comment ça va ? – Hi, how are you?
- Salut, tu vas bien ? – Hi, are you okay?
- Ça va bien, et toi ? – I’m fine, and you?
→ To part
- Au revoir ! – Goodbye!
- Salut ! – Hi!
- À plus ! – See you later!
- Ciao ! – Ciao!
- À bientôt ! – See you soon!
→ To say thank you
- merci – thank you
- merci beaucoup – thank you very much
