What is French for good bye
A French good bye is similar to other languages. You have formal and informal ways of greeting and saying farewell and bye. The purpose of this post is to give you different ways to say good-bye in French beyond what you already might know. I will give you some pronunciation and a quiz at the end.
I think testing yourself makes all the difference.
French good bye phrases
- Au revoir is French for good bye – The way you pronounce this is Oh reah vah. This is the basic way you say good by good bye in French and it can be use both formally and informally. Voir is the verb to see in French.
- Ciao is Bye bye in French – You pronounce it Chow. It is an informal way of saying goodbye. It is an Italian import word and is very popular in Montreal and the whole provence of Quebec. I do not know why but I think it is because there are a lot of Italians in Quebec.
- Salut is bye in French - This is one of my personal favorite ways of saying hello and good bye in French. Its very informal, however, I am an informal person. It is a greeting and a way to say see ya.
- Bonne journèe is good day in French – Like in Polish or Russian you might say Dzien Dobre in any situation formal and informal, in the shop or to people you do not know, so this is the a formal greeting but also way to say thank you for allowing me to be in your presence.
- Bonsoir means good evening in French - It is pronounced bon swaa This is a more formal expression but on a date with a girl that you even know you might use it.
- Bonne nuit is good night in French - Not much to say about this other than its is good night formally or informally.
- Adieu is like Good bye in English, it means God be with you in French - This is pronounced a de you. Good bye in English means God be with ye. This is what Adieu means in the French language and its eloquent.
- À bientôt is see you in French – A bee en toe is the pronunciation.
- À demain is see you tomorrow in French – A do mehn is the pronunciation. It can be formally or informally.
- À demain is French for see you tonight – A do mehn is the pronunciation.
When you think you know if take my quiz at the end of of this post.
As far as greetings and farewell go all you really need to know is one or two, maybe one formal and one informal. With something like basic phrases it is pretty clear in the content.
French good bye vocabulary quiz
How to learn how to good by in French
I am a believer in the flash card method. Simply take the phrases I give you or look up your own in a dictionary and put them on 3″ by 5″ index cards. If you want to draw some pictures or use mnemonics this is also good. Go through them until you know them. It might take a full day and night but the next day you will have about a dozen ways to say good bye from France to Quebec to Morocco. Try my flashcard method.
My recommendation is better than phrases is words, particularly French verbs. Verbs are the soul of any language. If you want to learn a language as fast as possible study about two hundred of the most important verbs and you will be able to speak French. Concrete nouns and greetings and phrases you can get off my website, you can learn them online.
Body language and gestures in a French good bye
The French kiss. As an American in Europe, I have gotten use to this custom of kissing when you say hello and good bye. Of course it is only on the cheeks but if the movies you may have seen are true, they kiss each other when they say hello.
I needed to add the men are less likely to hug and kiss other men.
French good bye with a kiss
Further, although there is not a formal language like in the Slavic languages the French use madame, mademoiselle or monsieur when saying good bye to someone you are not informal with. Therefore you might say, Au revoir mademoiselle to a French girl you just met.
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