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### The course has taught you how to arrive, not how to leave

You already know **bonjour** and **salut**. This lesson is the other half of every conversation: the words for ending one.

### Choosing by the time of day

French picks its greeting and its farewell by the clock, and the words are not interchangeable.

| formula | when you use it |
|---|---|
| **bonjour** | arriving, any time before evening |
| **bonsoir** | arriving *or* leaving, from roughly 18:00 |
| **bonne journée** | leaving, wishing someone a good day ahead |
| **bonne soirée** | leaving, wishing someone a good evening ahead |
| **bonne nuit** | only to someone going to bed |

The trap is **bonsoir** versus **bonne soirée**. *Bonsoir* is a greeting — you say it when you walk in. *Bonne soirée* is a wish — you say it when you walk out. And **bonne nuit** is never a greeting at all: it belongs at the bedroom door.

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### Leaving

**Au revoir** is the neutral goodbye and works with everyone. Literally it is *until the re-seeing* — which is why the more precise farewells are built the same way, with **à** plus the moment you expect:

- **à bientôt** — see you soon, no date attached
- **à demain** — see you tomorrow

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### Register

**Salut** does double duty: it is both *hi* and *bye*, and it is informal. **Au revoir** is safe everywhere. Pair a farewell with **Monsieur** or **Madame** and it becomes polite without becoming stiff — this is the single most useful habit in spoken French.

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Saying goodbye

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and elision (le, la, l')

Indefinite articles (un, une)

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Knowing facts vs. familiarity (savoir, connaître)

Question	Answer
goodbye	au revoir
Goodbye, madam!	Au revoir, Madame !
see you soon	à bientôt
Bye! See you soon!	Salut ! À bientôt !
Goodbye and see you soon, sir!	Au revoir et à bientôt, Monsieur !
see you tomorrow	à demain
See you tomorrow, madam!	À demain, Madame !
Bye! See you tomorrow!	Salut ! À demain !
good evening (on arriving)	bonsoir
Good evening, sir!	Bonsoir, Monsieur !
Good evening, madam! The coffee is hot.	Bonsoir, Madame ! Le café est chaud.
have a good day	bonne journée
Goodbye, sir, and have a good day!	Au revoir, Monsieur, et bonne journée !
Hello sir, and have a good day!	Bonjour Monsieur, et bonne journée !
Goodbye, madam. Have a good day!	Au revoir, Madame. Bonne journée !
have a good evening	bonne soirée
Good evening and have a nice evening!	Bonsoir et bonne soirée !
Have a good evening, sir! We are ready.	Bonne soirée, Monsieur ! Nous sommes prêts.
good night (to someone going to bed)	bonne nuit
Good night, madam.	Bonne nuit, Madame.
We are tired. Good night!	Nous sommes fatigués. Bonne nuit !

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