Salutations et Politesses en Phrases

Greetings and farewells are not optional in French — they are the foundation of every interaction. Walking into a small shop without saying bonjour or leaving without au revoir is genuinely rude in a way it isn't quite in English. This page covers the everyday vocabulary of arrival and departure: which greeting to use at which time of day, the formal-informal split, the time-of-day farewells (bonne journée, bonne soirée), and the cultural conventions around la bise — the cheek-kiss greeting that newcomers always get wrong the first time.

We work from the simplest greeting (bonjour) outward, with attention to the social rules that govern when to use which form. By the end of this page you will know how to enter and exit a French conversation, a shop, a meal, a phone call, and a formal letter without sounding clumsy.

Bonjour — the universal opener

The default French greeting is bonjour — literally "good day." It is usable from morning until late afternoon, in any context, with anyone.

A point of etiquette that surprises new arrivals: in France, you say bonjour when you enter any small shop, café, bakery, or office — not just when addressing the owner directly. Walking in silently and going straight to the counter is read as cold or even hostile. Likewise, when you pass a neighbor in a small apartment building, you say bonjour. Skipping it is noticeable.

The form bonjour madame / bonjour monsieur — adding the title — is a higher level of politeness, used with people you don't know in service contexts (shops, official buildings, formal greetings). It is not strictly required, but it is appreciated and signals careful manners.

You only say bonjour once per encounter. If you say bonjour to your colleague at 9 a.m. and run into them again at 11 a.m., a second bonjour would be slightly odd — you might use re-bonjour (informal, "hello again") or simply nod. This is a small but real piece of French social grammar.

Bonsoir — the evening shift

From late afternoon onward — roughly from five or six in the evening — French shifts from bonjour to bonsoir (good evening).

The exact crossover point varies by region and by speaker, but as a rule of thumb: from five in the afternoon onward, bonsoir is safer than bonjour. Some speakers shift earlier (around four); shops and businesses often shift around the time the sun sets in summer or around five in winter.

A common confusion: bonsoir is for arriving in the evening, not for leaving at night. To say goodbye at night you use bonne soirée (have a good evening) or au revoir. Bonsoir itself is a greeting, not a farewell.

Bonne nuit — only when going to bed

Bonne nuit — "good night" — has a much narrower use than its English equivalent. It is said only when one or both speakers are going to sleep. You do not use bonne nuit as a general evening farewell.

If you are leaving a friend's house at midnight after a dinner party, you do not say bonne nuit — you say bonne soirée if the evening continues for them, or au revoir / à bientôt. Bonne nuit implies the night itself, the period of sleep. Using it as a generic late-evening farewell is one of the most common English-speaker errors.

Salut — the informal universal

For friends, family, classmates, and anyone you address as tu, the standard greeting is salut. It works as both a hello and a goodbye, regardless of time of day.

Salut is informal — it would sound out of place in a formal meeting or in a shop where you don't know the owner. With strangers and in service contexts, stick with bonjour or bonsoir.

A more casual variant, coucou, is even more informal — it has a warm, friendly, slightly playful feel and is most often used between close friends, family, or partners.

Coucou is unmistakably affectionate. Don't use it with people you don't know well or in any formal context.

Allô — the phone hello

When answering or making a phone call, French uses a dedicated greeting: allô (with a long final o).

Allô is used only on the phone. Saying allô to greet someone in person would be confusing or comical. After allô, French phone etiquette typically continues with bonjour and a self-introduction or a request to speak to a specific person.

Farewells: au revoir and the à family

The neutral, all-purpose farewell is au revoir — literally "until the seeing again." It works in any context, formal or informal.

For more specific farewells, French uses a productive pattern: à + a time expression, meaning "until [that time]" or "see you [then]."

A few of these merit individual treatment:

• À bientôt — "see you soon" — vague, means within days or weeks. The most common general "see you" farewell.
• À tout à l'heure — "see you later" — implies later today, usually within hours. Often shortened in speech to à toute.
• À tout de suite — "see you in a moment" — within minutes.
• À plus tard or just à plus (informal) — "later" — flexible, often used among friends.
• À la prochaine — "until next time" — when you don't know exactly when you'll see the person again.

The shortened à plus is sometimes written A+ in text messages — a written abbreviation that doesn't survive into speech.

Time-of-day farewells: bonne journée, bonne soirée

When parting from someone, French wishes them a good remainder of their day or evening. These are formulaic — said almost automatically — but expected.

The pattern: bon/bonne + time period.

• Bonne journée — for the rest of the day (used during the day, when parting in the morning or afternoon).
• Bonne soirée — for the evening (used when parting in late afternoon or early evening).
• Bonne nuit — only when one of you is going to sleep.
• Bon week-end — Friday afternoon onward.
• Bonnes vacances — at the start of someone's holiday.
• Bon voyage — at the start of someone's trip.
• Bon appétit — said at the start of a meal.

The standard exchange when leaving a shop is: Au revoir, bonne journée — Au revoir, bonne journée à vous aussi. Skipping the second half (à vous aussi) is fine but slightly less polite than reciprocating.

Tchao and ciao — borrowed informal farewells

French has imported the Italian ciao — usually written tchao in French spelling — as an informal farewell. It is widespread, particularly among younger speakers.

Tchao / ciao is informal — never use it in formal or service contexts. Some French speakers consider it slightly affected; others use it constantly. Both spellings are accepted.

Tu and vous in greetings

The choice between tu and vous affects which greetings and farewells are appropriate.

• With tu (friends, family, peers, children): salut, coucou, à plus, tchao are all available.
• With vous (strangers, professionals, elders, formal contexts): stick to bonjour, bonsoir, au revoir, bonne journée, bonne soirée. Avoid salut, coucou, à plus, tchao.

A useful rule: when in doubt, default to the formal set. A French shopkeeper greeted with salut by a stranger will register the breach of register; the same shopkeeper greeted with bonjour by a close friend will not be offended.

Formal letters: cordialement and beyond

Email and letter farewells are a register of their own. The standard sign-off in modern French professional email is cordialement — equivalent to English "best regards." It is usable for any reasonably formal email.

For a slightly more formal register, cordiales salutations and bien cordialement are options:

The most formal closings — used in official correspondence, applications, and business letters — follow a fixed template:

This formula is genuinely formulaic — it is taught in French schools as the standard close for an official letter, and changing it sounds wrong. The shape is fixed: veuillez agréer + form of address + l'expression de + a noun phrase like mes salutations distinguées or mes sentiments respectueux. For everyday emails, cordialement is the right choice.

For close, informal email or text — friends, family, partners — the equivalents are bisous (kisses), à plus, or simply nothing.

La bise — the cheek-kiss greeting

In person, the standard greeting between friends, family, and acquaintances in France is la bise — a light cheek-kiss (or air-kiss) on each cheek. It is not a romantic gesture; it is the equivalent of a handshake.

The number of kisses varies by region:

• Paris and most of northern France: 2 kisses (one on each cheek).
• Some southern regions and Corsica: 3 or 4.
• Brittany and parts of the west: 1.

You do not give la bise in service contexts (with shopkeepers, waiters, officials) or in formal business settings — there you shake hands. Among friends, family, and informal acquaintances, la bise is standard. Two men greeting each other do la bise less consistently than mixed or female pairs, but it does happen, particularly within families.

The verb is faire la bise: on se fait la bise (we kiss on the cheeks). The noun bise (the kiss itself) and the diminutive bisou (used in casual sign-offs like bisous !) are both common.

For learners, the simplest rule: let the French person initiate. If they lean in, la bise is happening. If they extend a hand, you shake. Don't try to be more French than the French — they will signal what is appropriate.

Drilling: a complete encounter

Here is a complete arc of a service encounter, showing greetings and farewells in context:

A casual encounter between friends:

Notice that the casual exchange uses salut, tchao, and à demain — all informal — and the tu register throughout (toi, faut que je file — informal contraction of il faut que je file).

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

The basic French greeting system runs on time of day and register. Bonjour covers morning to late afternoon; bonsoir takes over from around five or six in the evening. Salut (informal) and coucou (very informal) work for friends and family at any time. Farewells separate by function: au revoir is the neutral standby, the à family (à demain, à bientôt, à plus tard, à tout à l'heure) names the next meeting, and the bon/bonne family (bonne journée, bonne soirée, bon week-end) wishes a good remainder of a time period. Bonne nuit is reserved for actual sleep — never use it as a general evening farewell. The cultural habit of greeting on entering a shop and the cheek-kiss bise among friends are not optional politenesses; they are baseline social grammar in France. Get the greetings right and the rest of the conversation goes more smoothly; get them wrong and you'll be marked as a tourist before you've ordered your coffee.