French Greetings at All Levels: 25+ Ways to Say Hello, Goodbye, and Be Polite

The safest French greeting is Bonjour (bohn-ZHOOR): it works with strangers, in shops, at work, and in most daytime situations. In the evening, switch to Bonsoir (bohn-SWAHR), and with friends you can use Salut (sah-LOO). The rest is about matching the relationship, the setting, and how formal the other person is being.

French is a global language: Ethnologue estimates roughly 80 million native speakers and well over 300 million total speakers worldwide (27th edition, 2024). The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) also tracks French across dozens of countries and territories, which helps explain why greetings can feel slightly different in Paris, Montréal, Dakar, or Brussels.

If you want a narrower list focused only on hello, see our How to Say Hello in French. For leaving and sign-offs, pair this guide with How to Say Goodbye in French.

Why French greetings feel "high stakes"

French greetings are not just words, they are social signals.

In many French-speaking settings, especially in France, greeting is treated as a basic politeness ritual: you acknowledge people when you enter a small space (a shop, waiting room, elevator, classroom). If you skip it, you can sound cold even if your grammar is perfect.

This aligns with what sociolinguist Penelope Brown and Stephen C. Levinson describe in Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage: everyday interaction is shaped by face-saving moves. In French, greeting is one of those moves, and it is often expected before you ask for anything.

The core rule: match formality to distance

French has a built-in formality switch: tu (informal) vs vous (formal or plural). Greetings and small talk often follow that choice.

If you are using vous, your greeting style should usually be more polite and complete. If you are using tu, shorter and more casual greetings sound natural.

For a deeper explanation of how French politeness works beyond greetings, our French etiquette and customs guide is a useful next step.

The essential greetings, with real usage

Bonjour

Bonjour is your default from morning until late afternoon. It is safe with strangers, coworkers, and service staff.

In many workplaces, people greet the room with Bonjour when they arrive, even if they do not greet every person individually. In smaller teams, you might do both.

Bonsoir

Bonsoir is used when you arrive in the evening. The exact switch time varies, but if it is dark outside, Bonsoir is usually correct.

Learners often overthink this. If you say Bonjour at 6 pm in winter, people may notice, but they will still understand you.

Salut

Salut is common with friends and peers, and it can also mean "bye" in casual contexts. It is not a swear word, but it can feel too familiar with strangers.

If you are unsure, start with Bonjour and wait. If the other person says Salut, you can mirror it.

Coucou

Coucou (koo-KOO) is playful and intimate. It is common in texts, voice notes, and among close friends or family, and it can sound childish or flirty depending on tone.

Use it when you already have a warm relationship. Do not use it as your first greeting to a coworker you barely know.

"How are you?" greetings that actually fit French

English speakers often treat "How are you?" as a routine greeting. French can do that too, but the phrasing and expectations differ.

Ça va ?

Ça va ? is the most common casual check-in. It can be a real question, but it is often light.

A very French rhythm is: Ça va ? then Ça va. then Et toi ?.

Comment ça va ?

Comment ça va ? (koh-MAHN sah VAH) is slightly fuller than Ça va ? and still casual. It can feel a bit more sincere, especially if you stress comment.

Comment allez-vous ?

This is the formal version. It can sound stiff among young friends, but it is excellent in customer service, interviews, and polite first meetings.

Linguist Deborah Tannen’s work on conversational style is useful here: people interpret the same words differently depending on expectations about involvement and distance. In French, Comment allez-vous ? signals distance and respect, which is exactly what you want in formal settings.

Introductions: greeting plus "nice to meet you"

Enchanté(e)

Enchanté(e) is widely used and does not sound old-fashioned. It is polite without being overly formal.

A natural response is simply Enchanté(e) back, or Moi aussi (mwah oh-SEE).

Ravi(e) de vous rencontrer

Ravi(e) de vous rencontrer (rah-VEE duh voo rohn-kohn-TRAY) is polite and slightly more explicit. It fits professional introductions, especially if you want to sound warm without being casual.

Goodbyes and parting wishes that sound native

French goodbyes often include a wish. This is where learners can sound unusually blunt if they only say Au revoir and leave.

Au revoir

Au revoir is the standard. It works almost everywhere.

If you want more options and nuance, see How to Say Goodbye in French.

Bonne journée

Bonne journée (bun zhoor-NAY) means "have a good day." It is extremely common when leaving a shop, finishing a call, or ending a small interaction in the daytime.

It can sound slightly transactional, but in service contexts that is normal.

Bonne soirée

Bonne soirée (bun swah-RAY) is "have a good evening." Use it when you are leaving in the evening.

A common learner mistake is using Bonsoir as a goodbye. People will understand, but Bonne soirée is often the more natural parting wish.

À bientôt, à tout à l'heure, à plus

À bientôt (ah byehn-TOH) is "see you soon" and works in polite contexts.

À tout à l'heure (ah too tah LUR) is "see you later" when you expect to see the person again the same day.

À plus (ah PLOOSS) is casual and common among friends, especially in texts. It is short for à plus tard.

Greetings you hear in movies, but should use carefully

Movies and TV often amplify casual speech. That is useful for listening practice, but it can mislead you about what is safe with strangers.

Wesh

Wesh (wesh) is slang associated with youth speech in France. It can function like "yo" or a casual attention-getter, and it is strongly tied to identity and context.

If you are not part of the community using it, it can sound performative. Learn it for comprehension, not as your default greeting.

Yo

Yo is used in French too, especially among young people, but it is still informal. It is closer to a vibe than a polite greeting.

If you want to understand stronger language you might hear around greetings, keep our French swear words guide as a reference, but treat it as recognition-first vocabulary.

Regional notes: France vs Quebec vs Africa

French is spoken across multiple continents, and greetings shift subtly.

In Quebec, you will hear Bonjour and Salut too, but you may also hear Allô (ah-LOH) as a phone greeting, and casual patterns can differ. In many West African francophone contexts, greetings can be longer and more ritualized, with more back-and-forth check-ins before business.

The OIF’s work on the global Francophonie is a good reminder: French is not a single cultural script. The safest approach is to start polite, listen, then mirror.

Pronunciation shortcuts that prevent common mistakes

French pronunciation is not spelled the way English learners expect, so a few high-impact habits help.

First, keep the nasal sound in bonjour as "bohn" not "bon." Second, do not over-pronounce final consonants in words like bonjour or au revoir. Third, keep je as zhuh, not "jee."

If you want a deeper sound system overview, our French pronunciation guide pairs well with this article.

Practice with real dialogue patterns (what people actually say)

Here are three mini-scripts you can reuse.

Entering a bakery (polite)

You: Bonjour.
Staff: Bonjour.
You: Je voudrais une baguette, s'il vous plaît.
Staff: Voilà.
You: Merci, bonne journée.
Staff: Bonne journée, au revoir.

Meeting a friend (casual)

You: Salut ! Ça va ?
Friend: Ça va, et toi ?
You: Ça va.

First meeting at work (formal-to-neutral)

You: Bonjour, je suis Alex. Enchanté.
Other: Enchantée. Moi c'est Sarah.
You: Ravi de vous rencontrer.

Notice how French often stacks a greeting plus a small politeness marker. That stacking sounds natural, not excessive.

Learn greetings faster with clips (and stop translating in your head)

Greetings are short, but they are rhythm-heavy. That makes them perfect for learning through real audio.

When you hear Bonjour in a scene, notice what comes next: a request, a name, a question, or a goodbye wish. You are training sequences, not isolated words.

If you are building a broader base vocabulary to support these interactions, start with the 100 most common French words. For a structured approach to learning from video, our dual subtitles guide is a practical next step.

The short checklist (what to do tomorrow)

Use Bonjour in the daytime with almost everyone. Use Bonsoir when arriving in the evening.

Use Salut only when the relationship is clearly casual. Add Bonne journée or Bonne soirée when leaving, especially in shops and service interactions.

When you want to go beyond greetings into affection and relationship language, our I love you in French guide covers what is romantic, what is friendly, and what is too intense.

If you want to practice these phrases in real scenes, Wordy’s movie and TV clips make greetings stick because you see the setting, hear the tone, and repeat the exact rhythm native speakers use.