Updated on January 5, 2024
7 ways to say “hello” in French
Alongside polite phrases to say please, thank you and sorry in French, saying hello is one of the most fundamental greetings, that you will need to use several times a day, each day of the week. But fundamental doesn’t necessarily mean easy. Depending on the context, the time of day and your relation with the person you’re talking to, you have several words and phrases to choose from. Just like failing to correctly faire la bise (kissing when saying hello or goodbye in France), using the wrong word may be a major faux pas. Find out now all the right ways to say hello in French:
To be more specific, these two words are the equivalent of “good morning”, “good afternoon” and “good evening”. They share the same structure of “good+time of day” and the same language register. Let’s learn how to use each one.
Literally speaking, bonjour means “good day”. However, it’s not used to wish someone a good day at the end of a conversation or an email, as this is already done by the expression bonne journée. Rather, it is used to say hello in the morning and in the afternoon. As such, it corresponds to both “good morning” and “good afternoon”. If you happen to be in Quebec, you may also hear bon matin (good morning), which is a common way to say hello in the morning in French Canadian.
Bonjour can be used in all sorts of contexts, both orally or as the initial greeting of an email. It can be formal if it is followed by the person’s title, with possibly also their last name:
| French | English | Comments |
| Bonjour Monsieur Bonjour Monsieur Lagarde | Good morning/afternoon sir Good morning/afternoon Mr Lagarde | The same word is used both for “sir” and “mister” in French, without any difference. |
| Bonjour Madame Bonjour Madame Dumont | Good morning/afternoon Mrs Good morning/afternoon Ms Dumont | These days, Madame is equally used for “Mrs” and “Ms”. |
| Bonjour Mademoiselle Bonjour Mademoiselle Poirier | Good morning/afternoon Miss Good morning/afternoon Miss Poirier | Historically speaking, mademoiselle was used for unmarried women. But with the evolution of society, it is now banned from official forms and only used to address young women verbally. With the tricky question of deciding when a woman is no longer considered young enough to be called mademoiselle, as the French singer Olivia Ruiz playfully described in her English song Don’t Call Me Madam. |
In a less formal way, bonjour can be followed by a first name or even stands on its own. If you are in a large room, you can greet everyone by saying either bonjour à tous (good morning/afternoon to all) or bonjour tout le monde (good morning/afternoon everyone)
As you may have guessed, if bonjour effectively means either “good morning” or “good afternoon”, the greeting has an expiration time after which it’s no longer appropriate to use it.
You can say bonjour approximately up to 6pm before you need to switch to bonsoir (good evening). The term can be used in exactly the same way as bonjour, i.e. with a title or a first name, on its own or with à tous or tout le monde when addressing a group of people.
It’s also important not to confuse bonsoir with bonne soirée (have a good evening) and bonne nuit (have a good night), which are used when saying goodbye to someone, either still early in the evening or later before going to bed.
If you’re looking for cooler or more casual ways to say hello than bonjour and bonsoir, then you have the choice between these two expressions.
The original meaning of salut is salute. But it’s commonly used to say “hi” in French to friends and loved ones, as well as (confusingly) to say “bye”. If you’re unsure whether it’s appropriate to say salut to someone in particular, just ask yourself if you are close enough to them to call them by their first name. If that’s the case, there’s little risk in saying salut to them.
Coucou is more of an onomatopoeia than an actual word. But it’s also fairly common to use it as an alternative to salut, especially with children, as it tends to have a more playful tone. It can also be used to attract the attention of someone, just like “hey there!” in English.
In French, the part of “again” in “hello again” is achieved by adding the prefix re- to the standard words to say hello:
| Hello | Hello again |
| Bonjour | Rebonjour |
| Bonsoir | Rebonsoir |
Unsurprisingly, all the rules that apply to each word in the left column of the table also apply to their equivalent in the right column.
If you’re British, you may already know this one through the iconic TV show, ‘Allo ‘Allo!, though, to be exact, the correct spelling is allô, with the French accent circonflexe. It’s also important to bear in mind it is used exclusively when starting an informal conversation on the phone. The person picking up the phone may utter allô as a question, with a rising tone, especially if they are unsure who’s calling them. The person making the phone call may also reply with allô, this time in a flat tone, before mentioning their name, possibly followed by the phrase à l’appareil (on the phone):
French:
– Allô?
– Allô, c’est Paul à l’appareil.
English:
– Allo?
– Allô, it’s Paul on the phone.
In a business or commercial context, the greeting on the phone will be a little different. A receptionist may just give the name of the company, the shop or the venue, followed by bonjour. You can also reply bonjour before proceeding with the subject of your phone call.
Meanwhile, while in Québec, French Canadians have a different way of saying hello on the phone: Instead of allô, they tend to say oui bonjour? (yes hello?)
And there you have it: seven words and phrases to say hello in French, depending on the time, the place and the person you are talking to. Even if you’re only beginning to learn French, you will quickly become familiar with them, as you’re likely to keep both hearing and using them every day.
