Common greetings in the french language
Greetings are an essential element of language. Every society and language has its own set of greetings. They are probably the first thing language learners learn when starting with a new language. They play a major role in acknowledging the presence of others and showing respect to them. Greetings vary from formal to informal settings, time of the day, and the people whom we are greeting. Let us look at the top ten greetings in French for beginners here.
The top 10 list
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Bonjour
The first greeting learnt by many – This is a very common greeting used and learnt by beginners. Whether you would like to say hello, good morning, good afternoon or good day when you see someone this is a great choice. However, if you would like to say good day while departing bonne journée is the word to be used. Bonsoir is the word to be used if you are greeting someone in the evening. This greeting is your safest bet in any formal or informal situation.
Say hi or bye with Salut When we meet someone very often or another time in the day this is the greeting to be used. An informal greeting that can be used with friends, colleagues or someone you know very well. This is also the greeting to say bye.
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Âllo for Hello
An exclusive French greeting for conversations over the telephone.
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Coucou
say Hey to your friends with Coucou. Yes, this is an informal greeting to use with very close friends or family members. Do not try it with your boss or in a formal situation to avoid any quizzical looks.
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Quoi de neuf
The expression for What’s up. This can be used if you have met someone after some time and would like to start a conversation with.
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ca va
How are you doing? or, how are you? – you can use this greeting as such or combine with bonjour as well to say hello, how are you doing?
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Au revoir
This is a formal way of saying good bye and your best bet for a departing greeting suited to any social setting and can be used with anyone irrespective of how familiar or not you are with a person.
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À plus
See you later – A casual greeting that can be used to say that you will see someone later.
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À tout à l’heure
See you soon – A perfect greeting to use when you are sure to meet someone, especially a friend later again in the day.
Greetings are the first step towards a conversation. So, get going with your impressive journey of learning French with these top ten greetings in French. Practice regularly, and build on your vocabulary that can be combined with these greetings for a good conversation.
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