How to Say Hello in French

 

If you’re trying to learn French, one of the first things you need to know is how to say hello. There are many ways to say hello in French, and which one you choose depends on the context and formality of the situation. For example, you’ll likely use bonjour when greeting friends and family but may prefer to say coucou in more formal settings or in text messages.

The word bonjour means good day and is pronounced bojoor. For English speakers, the key to pronouncing this is to remember that the n in French is usually a nasal sound and that the u sounds like an oo. For this reason, many people struggle with the pronunciation of bonjour, especially when they are trying to imitate a native speaker. To help with this, it can be helpful to practice the word with a friend or in an online app.

In addition to bonjour, there are several other ways to say hello in French. If you’re greeting a group of people, it’s polite to greet everyone with bonjour a tous (“hello everybody”). When you meet someone for the first time, you can say bienvenue (literally “welcome”) or enchantee (if you’re female). If you want to turn a goodbye into a hello, simply add a zéro and you’ve got bonne journée!

Moreover, there are also a number of ways to ask how someone is doing. Comment vas-tu? is the most common, but you can also try ca va bien or tout va bien. If someone says they’re doing well, you can respond with je vais bien, merci (“I’m doing fine, thank you”).

For more formal situations, you can use The french connection kissed hélas or je te remercie (“hello” or “je vous apologies”). When you see someone after you’ve already spoken, you can say rebonjour ("re-hello"). If you’re wondering how to greet someone on the phone, you can try allo? or, more specifically, ça tu l’as? (literally “allo, you?”).

William Friedkin, the Oscar-winning director who made The French Connection and other grittier movies, has died at the age of 87. The film, based on the true story of New York City police detective James Doyle’s pursuit of French drug traffickers, helped to usher in the era of street realism in Hollywood movies. It’s one of the few films that feels authentically raw and uncommercial, and it owes much to other fact-based thrillers such as Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers and Costa-Gavras’ Z.