How to Say Hello in French

The default answer is bonjour - "hello / good day." It works in essentially every context across the French-speaking world. But French greeting culture is more time-of-day-sensitive and more formal-register-conscious than English. Using "bonjour" at 10pm marks you as a non-native speaker; using "salut" with your boss marks you as inappropriately casual. This article covers the basic greetings, the time-of-day register, the formal-informal distinction, regional variations, and how to respond appropriately.

The basic greeting

Bonjour - "hello" or "good day."

Pronunciation: bohn-ZHOOR. Two syllables, with the nasal "on" and the soft French J.

Bonjour is the universal default French greeting used until evening (sunset). It functions as "hello" in any context: friend to friend, stranger to stranger, customer to shop assistant, professional to client. It is the safest greeting and the one to default to in any uncertain situation.

Time-of-day greetings

French greeting culture observes the time of day more strictly than English:

A few practical notes:

Bonjour

Used throughout the daylight hours. The cut-off is sunset, which varies seasonally but practically means around 18:00-19:00 in summer and 17:00 in winter. Using bonjour after dark sounds slightly off; native speakers switch to bonsoir.

Bonsoir

Used as both a greeting and a farewell in the evening. "Bonsoir!" entering a shop at 19:00 is the standard greeting; "bonsoir!" leaving the shop is the standard farewell. Equivalent to English "good evening" as both arrival and departure.

Bonne nuit

Specifically for going to bed or parting at night when both people will be sleeping soon. Do not use as a greeting - using bonne nuit to greet someone marks you as a learner. It is only a farewell.

Salut

The casual all-purpose greeting and farewell. Works at any time of day. Used between friends, peers, and in informal contexts. Do not use in formal contexts: with strangers, professionals, in shops, or at work in any formal register. Reserve salut for friends and casual peer interactions.

Casual and informal greetings beyond bonjour

French casual greeting vocabulary is broader than just salut:

The phrase ca va is genuinely fascinating in French: it can be a greeting, a question, an answer, an exclamation, and a casual acknowledgement. "Ca va?" / "Ca va." is the most common short exchange in casual French.

Formal versus informal

French has a strict formal-versus-informal distinction in pronouns that affects greetings:

• Tu (you, informal) - friends, family, peers, children
• Vous (you, formal) - strangers, elders, professionals, formal contexts

The greeting itself does not change but the follow-up question does:

• Bonjour, comment vas-tu? (How are you? informal) - tu form
• Bonjour, comment allez-vous? (How are you? formal) - vous form

French maintains the formal-informal distinction more strictly than Spanish. In France, vous is universal in business and professional contexts, in shops, restaurants, hotels, with anyone older than you whom you have just met, and often persists for years even with familiar colleagues. The shift to tu (called "tutoyer") is generally invited explicitly: "on peut se tutoyer?"

In Quebec, the vous-tu distinction is observed but with somewhat faster transition to tu in commercial and professional contexts.

Responding to greetings

Standard French response patterns:

The reciprocation rule applies: French speakers nearly always return the "and you?" - et vous? (formal) or et toi? (informal). Cutting off without asking back is technically correct but slightly rude.

The bonjour rule in French shops and service

Critical for foreign visitors to France: always say bonjour when entering a shop, restaurant, taxi, or any service interaction. The bonjour rule is one of the most consistently observed French social conventions. Walking into a French boulangerie and asking for bread without first saying "bonjour" reads as actively rude.

The pattern:

1. Enter shop, say "Bonjour" (no need to direct at anyone specific).
2. The shop assistant returns "Bonjour" (or "Bonsoir" in evening).
3. Now you can ask for what you need.
4. When leaving, say "Merci, au revoir" or "Merci, bonne journee" or "Merci, bonne soiree."

French rudeness reputation is largely attached to foreigners who skip the bonjour ritual. Following it is the single biggest social-register win you can make as a visitor.

Regional variations

France

• Bonjour, salut, ca va is the universal French casual greeting trio.
• The bonjour rule (above) is observed strictly in service contexts.
• Use of vous is the default with strangers; tu is reserved for invited intimacy.
• The cheek-kiss (bise) is the standard casual greeting between friends.

Quebec

• Bonjour, salut, ca va are universal.
• The Quebec greeting culture is closer to North American casual register: slightly faster transition to tu, less rigid vous defaults in casual commercial settings.
• The Quebec accent (joual) has distinctive pronunciation of common words; greetings retain standard form but with Quebec phonetics.
• "Allo!" is used as casual hello in Quebec, particularly on phone and in informal greetings.

Belgium

• Standard French greetings dominate.
• "Bonjour" is universal; "salut" widely used informally.
• Belgian French has some unique vocabulary but greetings follow French conventions.

Switzerland (French-speaking)

• Standard French greetings dominate.
• Swiss French uses "septante" (70) and "nonante" (90) rather than France's "soixante-dix" and "quatre-vingt-dix" but greetings follow standard French patterns.
• Slightly more formal register in commercial contexts than France.

The cheek-kiss greeting

In French-speaking culture, the bise (cheek-kiss) is the standard casual greeting between friends and acquaintances. The number and direction varies:

• Paris: two kisses (one on each cheek), starting with right cheek.
• Southern France: three kisses.
• Brittany, Vendee: four kisses.
• Quebec: two kisses.
• Belgium: one kiss or three kisses depending on region.

The bise is not a formal greeting: strangers and formal contexts default to handshake. Between same-sex men, the bise is less common than between mixed-sex pairs or between women. Cultural shifts post-Covid have made the bise less automatic; modern French greeting often uses an air-kiss or skips the cheek-touch.

Phone greetings

When answering the phone:

• Allo? (Hello?) - universal informal
• Bonjour, X a l'appareil - "Good day, X speaking" - formal business
• Oui? - "Yes?" - casual

When making the call, after the other person picks up:

• Bonjour, c'est X. - "Hello, this is X."

Greeting in writing

Email and message greetings:

• Bonjour name - moderate formal default
• Cher / Chere name - formal "Dear"
• Salut name - casual
• Coucou name - very casual

Email closings: Cordialement (Cordially), Bien cordialement (Best cordially), Salutations distinguees (Distinguished greetings) for very formal.

A few useful related phrases

How to actually internalise these

Three practical recommendations:

1. Always start service interactions with bonjour. No exceptions, no shortcuts. The bonjour rule is the single biggest social-register win a French learner can make.
2. Default to vous with new people. Never pre-emptively use tu with strangers, older people, or in any business context. Let the shift to tu come as an explicit invitation.
3. Switch to bonsoir at dusk. Bonjour after dark reads as clearly non-native. The shift around 18:00-19:00 (later in summer) is a small calibration that meaningfully improves your French.

Cross-references

• The French for adult learners pillar covers the wider French learning approach.
• The French accents guide covers the regional variety choice in detail.
• The French grammar cheatsheet covers the structures underlying these greetings.
• The how to say thank you in French article covers the gratitude vocabulary that pairs with greetings.
• The common mistakes for English speakers in French article covers register and vocabulary gaps that frequently affect greeting interactions.