French Made Easy

157 - How to Say 'Hello' in French

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In this episode, you’ll learn how to say 'Hello,' 'Good morning,' 'Hi,' 'Good evening,' and even 'Bye' in French. 😊

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Hello everyone, bonjour à tous! Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast! This is episode number 157, numéro 157. In today’s episode, I’ll teach you how to say “hello” in French, along with how to say good morning, good evening, and hi.

If you're new here, welcome! Please have your lesson's cheat sheet ready. This will help you follow along with the words as you hear them. Today's lesson is straightforward, so no exercises are needed.

Let’s dive right in:

1. Bonjour (Hello / Good morning)

Alright, so "bonjour" is your go-to greeting in French, suitable for both formal and informal situations, and it can be used any time before the evening (so anytime before roughly 5, 5:30pm). Now, I get that question a lot, but 'bonjour' also means 'good morning'—there's no separate phrase for ‘good morning’ in French.

Example:

A: “Bonjour, vous avez l’heure s’il vous plaît ?” (Hello, do you have the time please?)

B: “Bonjour! Oui, il est treize heures.” (Hello! Yes, it's one o'clock.)

2. Bonsoir (Good evening)

"Bonsoir" is your evening greeting, typically used from around 5, 5:30 PM onward. It fits both casual and formal settings.

Example:

A: “Bonsoir, le film commence à quelle heure ?” (Good evening, what time does the movie start?)

B: “Bonsoir! Il commence à vingt-et-une heures.” (Good evening! It starts at 9 PM.)

3. Salut (Hi)

"Salut" is casual and generally used with friends or people you know. Now "salut" is also used to 'bye,' so it works both to say hi and bye! And of course, context will help differentiate them.

Example:

A: “Salut! Ça fait longtemps, comment ça va ?” (Hi! It's been a while, how are you?)

B: “Salut! Ça va bien, merci. Et toi ?” (Hi! I'm doing well, thanks. What about you?)

4. Coucou (Hey)

"Coucou," is is very casual and quite friendly. Personally I more often used in text messages.

Example:

A: “Coucou! Qu’est-ce que tu fais ce week-end ?” (Hey! What are you doing this weekend?)

B: “Coucou! Pas grand-chose, tu veux qu'on aille boire un verre ensemble ?” (Hey! Not much, wanna go out for a drink?)

Recap of Today’s Greetings in French:

  • Bonjour (Hello / Good morning)
  • Bonsoir (Good evening)
  • Salut (Hi / Bye)
  • Coucou (Hi / Hey)

Alright, that’s the end of today’s episode! I hope you found it helpful. À la semaine prochaine! Chat with you next week.