Learn basic greetings
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Today, we'll cover basic greetings for different times of the day. As there are quite a few to cover, let's jump right in. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| In French, the phrase bonjour can be used as a universal greeting. |
| Bonjour |
| Let's break it down by syllable: Bonjour |
| Now let's hear it once again, Bonjour |
| The first word, bon, means "good." |
| Let's hear it few more times, bon |
| Bon. |
| Bon. |
| And, bon. |
| This is followed by jour, which in French is “day.” |
| Jour |
| Jour |
| And, jour. |
| Altogether, that makes bonjour, which literally means “good day.” |
| In France, bonjour is used all day including the morning and afternoon until around 6pm. Afterwards, we have the evening greeting, which in French is bonsoir. |
| Bonsoir. |
| Let's break it down by syllable: Bonsoir. |
| Now let's hear it one more time, Bonsoir. |
| The first word, bon, means "good" as we saw it with bonjour. |
| This is followed by soir, which in French is “evening.” |
| soir |
| soir |
| And, soir. |
| At the workplace, it’s common to greet your colleagues with bonjour, which is the same for your superiors. |
| Customers also also greeted with bonjour or bonsoir depending on the time of day. |
| In French, a more informal greeting is Salut. |
| Salut. |
| Let's break it down by syllable: Salut. |
| Now let's hear it one more time, Salut. |
| In French, salut means “hi” or “hey.” |
| Bonjour, bonsoir, and salut are all the greetings you need to know. |
| Bonjour and bonsoir can be used with anyone regardless of age, gender, formality or informality. |
| They are your universal greetings in French. Just be sure to switch to bonsoir after 6pm. If you forget, the locals will remind you. |
| Salut is only used in informal context, with people you know, such as friends, and can be used at any time of the day. |
Outro |
|---|
| Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for saying it out loud in French. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so bonne chance, that means “good luck” in French. Ok, here we go! |
| “Hello” - Bonjour |
| Bonjour |
| Bonjour |
| "Good evening" - Bonsoir |
| Bonsoir |
| Bonsoir |
| "Hi" - Salut |
| Salut |
| Salut |
| This is the end of today’s lesson. See you soon! À bientôt! |
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