Log inSign up

Bon voyage, Madame ! À bientôt !

Bon voyage, Madame ! À bientôt !
Have a good trip, madam! See you soon!
From Lesson 52:Please, sorry and thank you·French

Breakdown of Bon voyage, Madame ! À bientôt !

Madame
madam
à bientôt
see you soon
bon voyage
have a good trip

Questions & Answers about Bon voyage, Madame ! À bientôt !

Why don't we say 'un bon voyage' to mean 'a good trip'?
In English, we say 'Have a good trip.' But in French, for common well-wishes, the 'a' (un or une) is left out. You just say bon voyage, exactly like you say bon appétit or bonne chance (good luck).
How do I know whether to use bon or bien here?
Bon means 'good' and is used to describe nouns (things, people, or places). Since voyage (trip) is a noun, you use bon. Bien generally means 'well' and is used with verbs to describe how an action is done.
Is it normal to say Madame without the person's last name?
Yes, absolutely! In French, it is very polite and common to address someone simply as Madame or Monsieur, whether you know them or not. It sounds much more natural in everyday French than 'Madam' or 'Sir' does in everyday English.
How does À bientôt translate to 'See you soon'?
Bientôt simply means 'soon'. In French, putting à (which usually means 'to' or 'at') before a time word is the standard way to say 'see you'. For example, à demain means 'see you tomorrow', and à bientôt means 'see you soon'.
Why is there an extra space before the exclamation marks?
That is a strict rule in French typing! Unlike in English, you must always type a space before any punctuation mark that has two parts. This includes exclamation marks (!), question marks (?), colons (:), and semicolons (;).

Learn Bon voyage, Madame ! À bientôt and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →