How To Greet People In French

Here are some basic French greetings:

Bonjour [bawn-zhoor]
Translation: Good day

Bonsoir [bawn-swar]
Translation: Good evening

Salut [sah-lew]
Translation: Hello

Example:
- Bonjour, Pierre! (Good day, Pierre!)

After greeting someone, you may also ask how he or she is by saying any of the following phrases:

• Comment ça va? [komawn sah vah] or you can simply say Ça va? [sah vah]
• Comment allez-vous? [komawntaleyvoo]
Translation: How are you?

or

Tu vas bien? [tew vah byan]
Translation: Are you fine/well/good?

Example:
- Salut, Marie! Ça va? (Hello, Marie! How are you?)

When someone asks how you are, you may reply by saying:

Très bien [trey byan]
Translation: Very well

And add in a thank you at the end by saying:

Merci [mer-see]
Translation: Thank you

Example:
- Bonjour! Comment allez-vous? (Good day! How are you?)
- Très bien, merci! (Very well, thank you!)


Ça va? and Ça va.

We've learned that Ça va? is a way of asking someone how he or she is. But ça va may also be used as a statement to tell someone that things are going well.

Example:
- Tu vas bien?
- Ça va.

In this case, answering with ça va would be just like saying things are going well. Instead of ça va being a question, it becomes a positive statement of your well-being.

If things are NOT well, however, you may reply by saying:

Ça ne va pas [sah nuh vah pah]

This means that things are not going well.


So what about you? Ça va?