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Lesson Transcript

Salut, je m'appelle Ingrid. Hi everybody! I’m Ingrid.
Welcome to FrenchPod101.com’s “Le français en 3 minutes”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn French.
In the last lesson, we learned how to be grateful to people by saying merci. In this lesson we’ll learn some of the most common greetings used in France.
Vous êtes prêts? Are you ready? Alors c'est parti, so let’s start!
The most used informal greeting is:
Salut!
[slowly]Salut!
Salut means “hi,” “hello,” or "goodbye." We use it when we meet but also when we leave. We should only use this greeting with friends or relatives.
And now let’s continue by discussing the formal way to greet people.
The one you are probably used to hearing is:
Bonjour!
[slowly] Bonjour.
Literally, bonjour means "good day"; however, we may also interpret it as "good morning" or "good afternoon." As a rule of thumb we can use bonjour only during the daytime—from morning until evening.
During the evening we say:
Bonsoir!
[slowly] Bonsoir.
Soir is French for “evening,” so bonsoir means good evening.
Bonjour and bonsoir are used when we meet someone, but when we leave, we don’t say them again.
In this formal situation French people use:
Au revoir!
[slowly] Au revoir.
Au revoir means “good-bye.”
Finally, in French we have an expression meaning “see you soon” that can be considered both formal and informal. À bientôt!
[slowly] À bientôt.
Now you can greet people in many different ways in French!
Let’s review them all again.
When meeting older people or someone we don’t know:
Salut!
When leaving in a formal situation, we say:
Bonjour or bonsoir!
When leaving, in a formal situation:
À bientôt!
When leaving, no matter whether it's a formal or informal situation:
Au revoir!
It’s easy, isn’t it?
Now it’s time for Ingrid’s Insights.
In formal situations, French people commonly greet each other by shaking hands. On the other hand, if we meet someone we are very friendly with, we kiss each other on both cheeks. Don’t be afraid to do it with your French friends—it’s normal!
During the next lesson we’ll learn the meaning of the phrase parlez-vous anglais? Do you already know it? We'll be waiting to talk about it with you in our next Le français en 3 minutes.
À bientôt!

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