Salut ! À bientôt !

From Lesson 11:Saying goodbye·French

Breakdown of Salut ! À bientôt !

salut
hi
à bientôt
see you soon

Questions & Answers about Salut ! À bientôt !

Wait, doesn't Salut mean "Hi"? Why does the translation say "Bye"?
In French, Salut is a casual greeting that works both ways! You can use it to say "Hi" when you meet up with a friend, and "Bye" when you leave. You will always know which one it means based on the situation.
What does the À do in À bientôt?
The word à normally means "to" or "at", but it is used to start many common goodbye phrases in French. In these phrases, you can think of it as meaning "until." So, À bientôt translates literally to "Until soon."
Do I pronounce the "t" at the end of Salut and bientôt?
No, the t at the end of both of these words is silent. You pronounce Salut like "sah-loo" and bientôt roughly like "byan-toe". In French, consonants at the very end of a word are usually silent.
Why is there a space before the exclamation marks?
That is a strict rule in French typing and writing! For "tall" or two-part punctuation marks like exclamation marks (!), question marks (?), colons (:), and semicolons (;), you must always put a space between the last word and the punctuation mark.

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