Informally, the French use: "Ca va?" ("Sa va") or "Comment ca-va?" ("Komo sa va") (Say this to a good friend/someone you know quite well :) It's like saying 'Hi! How's it going?" This is the most common greeting used with teens! :)
S'il vous plait....please go home tonight and teach your Mom, Dad, little brothers & sisters how to greet one another and also say goodbye "en francais!" (in French!) :D Merci!
- Let's practice!! :) Please find a partner, and practice as to how you would greet the people listed below (in French, of course!) or, how you would tell them goodbye or ask how they are! :)
- Your doctor--Hello!
- Your best friend-Bye!
- Your boyfriend or girlfriend--Hi!
- The President of the U.S.--Goodbye!
- Mr. Hall--Hello!
- Your teacher--Goodbye!
- Your classmates---Until tomorrow!
- Your principal--How are you?
- Your brother--How's it going?
Formal and Informal Greetings in French!
An Example:
More informal greetings:
Let's start with the most common formal greeting! To say "How are you?" formally
Now let's work on some common ways to say "Goodbye!" in French! :) The most common formal or polite way to say "Goodbye" in French is "Au revoir!" ("oravwa")
There are lots of less formal ways to say "Bye!" or "See you soon!". A few of these are:
- "Ciao!" ("chow")="Bye!" Yes, it's Italian, but the French have claimed it as their own! :)
- "A bientot!" ("Ahbiento") ="See you soon!"
- "A demain!"("Aduhman")="See you tomorrow!"
- "A tout!" ("Ahtoot")="Soon!" (Literally taken from "A tout a l'heure!", but abbreviated and made very cute---really used often by girls and their good friends. :)
"Salut!"("sahlu")="Hi!"
"Ciao bella!" ("chow bella")= "Hey beautiful!"
"Ca gaze?" ("sa gahz")="What's booming? What's blasting?"
Say "Comment allez-vous?" to an adult/anyone you must show respect to :)
In French, it's very important to realize that one must show great respect when greeting elders, teachers, doctors, lawyers--anyone that is older and wiser than you! :) We'll use certain greetings for those we don't know well, and other greetings for our good friends and family :) Do we do this in English? Please visit with your table partner about this for a moment! :)
The formal way to say 'Hello' in French is.....
"Bonjour!" (sounds like 'bow-jur' :)
- Bonjour=Hello!
- Use with adults--anyone you must show respect to.
- Literally means "Good day"
Photo credits: 'horizon' by pierreyves @ flickr