In the pronunciation notes, (n) marks a nasal vowel and “zh” is the s in “measure”.<\/p>\n\n Bonjour<\/span> is bo(n)-ZHOOR, bonsoir<\/span> bo(n)-SWAHR, salut<\/span> sa-L\u00dc with a silent t. French has no word for “good afternoon”: bonjour<\/span> covers the whole day.<\/p>\n\n In France, bonjour<\/span> is expected when you walk into a shop, a waiting room or a bus, and when you speak to anyone, even to ask the time. Starting with a question and no bonjour<\/span> sounds rude. The polite version adds madame<\/span> or monsieur<\/span>, without a surname: Bonjour, madame.<\/span><\/p>\n\n You say bonjour<\/span> once a day to the same person. If you meet again, a smile or an informal re-bonjour<\/span> does the job.<\/p>\n\n Regional notes: in Belgium, \u00e0 tant\u00f4t<\/span> means “see you later today”. In Quebec, bonjour<\/span> is also used to say goodbye. In France, adieu<\/span> means goodbye for ever; in parts of Switzerland and southern France you may still hear it as an everyday greeting.<\/p>\n\n The answers go from best to worst: Tr\u00e8s bien, merci.<\/span>, \u00c7a va bien.<\/span>, \u00c7a va.<\/span>, Pas mal.<\/span>, Bof.<\/span>, Pas trop.<\/span>, \u00c7a ne va pas.<\/span> Then bounce the question back: Et toi ?<\/span> or Et vous ?<\/span><\/p>\n\n \u00c7a va<\/span> is both the question and the answer: only the intonation changes. \u00c7a va ?<\/span> rises, \u00c7a va.<\/span> falls. Textbooks often teach comme ci, comme \u00e7a<\/span> for “so-so”; it exists, but bof<\/span> and pas mal<\/span> are far more natural for teenagers.<\/p>\n\n Mademoiselle<\/span> was removed from official French forms in 2012. Madame<\/span> is the safe choice for any adult woman.<\/p>\n\n Customs vary with the region, the family and the situation, so present them as tendencies.<\/p>\n\n In class, role-play the words, not the kisses: a wave or a handshake is enough.<\/p>\n\n \u2014 Bonjour, Madame. \u2014 Bonjour, Ethan. \u00c7a va ?<\/span>“Good morning, Miss.” “Good morning, Ethan. How are you?”<\/small><\/p>\n\n Bonsoir, monsieur. Vous allez bien ?<\/span>Good evening, sir. Are you well?<\/small><\/p>\n\n Salut ! \u00c0 demain !<\/span>Bye! See you tomorrow!<\/small><\/p>\n\n A greeting that opens every lesson is the first French of the day for your pupils, and it can do more than say hello.<\/p>\n\n That is exactly what a short daily routine offers: the same frame, a little variety, and every pupil speaking in the first minute.<\/p>\n\n A word of care: let pupils give a “classroom answer” rather than their real mood if they prefer. Now and then, change the register: Aujourd’hui, vous parlez \u00e0 la directrice<\/span> (today you’re talking to the head teacher), and the class switches to vous<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n At KS2, songs and a greeting puppet do the job. At KS3, tu<\/span> and vous<\/span> deserve explicit teaching. At GCSE, greetings and sign-offs matter in role plays and written tasks.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bonjour, bonsoir, salut, au revoir: when to say what, tu or vous, la bise, and the \u00c7a va ? routine to open every lesson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"menu_order":17,"template":"","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Greetings in French: Bonjour, Salut, Tu or Vous | VocaDial","_seopress_titles_desc":"Greetings in French for every situation: bonjour, bonsoir, salut, goodbyes, \u00e7a va, tu or vous, la bise or a handshake, and a routine to open every lesson.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_vd_topic":"salutations","_vd_target":"fr","_vd_module":"emociones","_vd_level":"A1","_vd_minutes":"7","_vd_card_word":"Bonjour !","_vd_answer":"The basic greetings in French are bonjour<\/span> (hello, good morning, good afternoon), bonsoir<\/span> (good evening) and, informally, salut<\/span> (hi, bye). To say goodbye: au revoir<\/span>, \u00e0 bient\u00f4t<\/span> (see you soon) and \u00e0 demain<\/span> (see you tomorrow). Bonne nuit<\/span> is only for bedtime. The usual follow-up is \u00c7a va ?<\/span>, answered with \u00c7a va bien, merci. Et toi ?<\/span>","_vd_faq":"[{\"q\":\"How do you say hello in French?\",\"a\":\"Bonjour<\\\/span> during the day, bonsoir<\\\/span> in the evening, and salut<\\\/span> informally with friends.\"},{\"q\":\"When do you say bonsoir instead of bonjour?\",\"a\":\"From the early evening, roughly when the working day ends. There is no fixed time. Bonne nuit<\\\/span> is only said when someone goes to bed.\"},{\"q\":\"How do you say goodbye in French?\",\"a\":\"Au revoir<\\\/span> in any situation, salut<\\\/span> informally, \u00e0 bient\u00f4t<\\\/span> (see you soon) and \u00e0 demain<\\\/span> (see you tomorrow).\"},{\"q\":\"Should I use tu or vous in French?\",\"a\":\"Tu<\\\/span> with friends, family, children and classmates; vous<\\\/span> with adults you don't know, teachers and in formal situations, and always for several people.\"},{\"q\":\"How do you answer \u00c7a va ?\",\"a\":\"\u00c7a va bien, merci. Et toi ?<\\\/span> Other answers: tr\u00e8s bien<\\\/span>, pas mal<\\\/span>, bof<\\\/span>, \u00e7a ne va pas<\\\/span>.\"},{\"q\":\"How many kisses do the French give for la bise?\",\"a\":\"Usually two, but three or four in some regions of France. In Belgium one is common, and in French-speaking Switzerland often three.\"}]","_vd_key":"salutations-fr","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-72","vd_ressource","type-vd_ressource","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vd_ressource\/72","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vd_ressource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/vd_ressource"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vd_ressource\/72\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}French<\/th> English<\/th> When to use it<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> bonjour<\/td> hello, good morning, good afternoon<\/td> all day until the evening, with anyone: the default greeting<\/td><\/tr> bonsoir<\/td> good evening<\/td> from the early evening; there is no fixed time<\/td><\/tr> salut<\/td> hi, and also bye<\/td> informal: friends, classmates, family<\/td><\/tr> coucou<\/td> hiya<\/td> very informal: family, close friends, children, messages<\/td><\/tr> bonne nuit<\/td> good night<\/td> only when someone is going to bed<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n Bonjour is not optional<\/h3>\n\n
Saying goodbye<\/h3>\n\n
“How are you?” and the answers<\/h2>\n\n
Meeting someone<\/h3>\n\n
Tu or vous?<\/h2>\n\n
La bise or a handshake?<\/h2>\n\n
Greetings in writing<\/h3>\n\n
Typical mistakes of English-speaking learners<\/h2>\n\n
In class: the \u00c7a va ? routine<\/h2>\n\n
Adapting to your class<\/h3>\n\n