French Lesson 1: Saluer et prendre congé

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 !