The Focus of This Lesson is Self-Introduction and Basic Greetings in Formal French
Bonjour, Madame.
"Hello, Ma'am."

Bienvenu(e) ("Welcome") to the French language basics. Introducing oneself is inevitable in any situation and is rather easy! Let's start with the word bonjour!

Bonjour ("Hello")

For a more classical and frequent greeting, use bonjour, meaning "hello." Its literal meaning is "good day."

You can use bonjour anytime during the day in any circumstances. If you are speaking to a friend, an elderly person, or an unknown person in an informal or formal situation, use bonjour. It the safest and most respectable way of greeting a person while in France or another French-speaking country.

If the evening is falling and night is soon to come, use bonsoir, meaning "good evening." Like bonjour, bonsoir is the most common way to greet someone in a safe manner. The only difference is that you can use bonsoir for farewells as well at the end of the day.

Note that a title can follow both bonjour and bonsoir to be a bit more proper, as with bienvenu.

For Example:

Daytime

1. Bonjour monsieur.
   "Hello, sir."
2. Bonjour madame.
   "Hello, ma'am."

Evening

1. Bonsoir monsieur.
   "Hello, sir." or "Good evening, sir."
2. Bonsoir madame.
   "Hello, ma'am."
   "Good evening, ma'am."

Greeting During the Day

Greeting or Farewell in the Evening or at Night

Stating a Name

After you're formally greeted in your hotel, someone will certainly ask you about your identity.

In many other situations, social or otherwise, to get to know someone or introduce yourself, you will ask or hear the most frequent question: "What is your name?"

To answer it, use:

1. the personal pronoun je, meaning "I" in English, and
2. the verb s'appeler conjugated at the correct form

Conjugating the Verb s'appeler ("to be called")

The verb s'appeler means "to be called" and we translate it with the verb "to be" in English when stating a name, as shown in the dialogue translation. The infinitive verb s'appeler ends with the letters -er, telling us it is:

1. a regular verb and
2. a verb from the first verb group

Its particularity is the presence at its infinitive form of the letter -s followed by an apostrophe. This tells us that this verb (as others with the same feature) is a "reflexive verb," which is also called in French verbes pronominaux.

The letter -s apostrophe is the reflexive part of the verb. Its function is to refer the information following the verb s'appeler-in other words, a name, back to the subject of the sentence.

When conjugating a reflexive verb, you should follow two steps. You need to change the letter -s apostrophe and the verb form according to the subject of the sentence, and therefore, the personal pronoun you use.

Changing the Reflexive Part of the Verb s'appeler

In the sentence Je m'appelle Maxime, the personal pronoun is je, which belongs to the first person singular. As the verb s'appeler is a "reflexive verb" or verbe pronominal, the letter -s needs to change to the letter -m followed by the apostrophe.
You will have m'appeler.

Be aware that you only change the letter -m if the information following the verb s'appeler belongs to the person speaking it. If not, if you hear je t'appelle Laurent, it would mean "I call you Laurent" (instead of Mrs. Dubois, for example). In other words, the name stated needs to be the one of the person stating it, as in Je m'appelle Madame Lefebvre Camille. "I'm Mrs. Camille Lefebvre."

Changing the Ending of the Verb s'appeler

To change the ending of the verb form m'appeler previously mentioned, eliminate the letters -er. You'll end up with: m'appel.

Then, to have the correct spelling for this verb, remember to add an extra letter -l to all the forms except for the first and second person plural. You'll have now: m'appell.

Finally, as for any verb ending in -er at the infinitive form, add the ending -e corresponding to the first person singular. You will have the final conjugated form: m'appelle.

Of course, to get the final sentence, add in front of it the personal pronoun je and after it your name: Je m'appelle.

Most and Least Popular Given First Names

For boys, according to the French magazine Femme Actuelle, first names sounding foreign are in regression. They used to be popular, possibly because the names of characters appearing in Hollywood's broadcasted soap operas are dubbed in French. The least popular are Liam and Aaron, as well as Matthieu and Jean, two biblical first names. Another one losing popularity is Loïc, which is short for Alexandre or Alex.

However, the most popular first names in 2008 and 2009, for both boys and girls, will be short ones such as Tom, Zoé, or the traditional Paul and Marie. Another trend is first names ending in the letter -o for boys, such as Enzo, Hugo, Léo, Théo, or Mathéo, and -a for girls, such as Emma, Clara, and Léa, which are the three most popular names. Some other ever-classic first names are Alexandre, Raphaël, and Gabriel for boys and Marie, Inès, and Camille for girls.

A very popular book is published every mid-September for parents-to-be called L'Officiel des Prénoms (Official First Names). It is the yearly reference for first names, listing twelve thousand of them with their etymologies and discussing trends in names.