In France, saying bonjour in French is a sign of respect and a cultural norm. It's not optional to forgo the greeting if you want people to know that you understand French manners.
In the UK, US, Australia, Canada… when you meet a person for the second time during the day you just say , “hi” or “hello”. But in France, saying bonjour several times is super rude. Maybe you didn't know and you're thinking « Oh no!
Bonjour is the go-to greeting in French and means both “hello” and “good morning.” If it's evening or nighttime, you can say Bonsoir (literally, “Good evening”). This works in formal or informal contexts, although generally if you're meeting up with friends or family it's fairly common to continue to use Bonjour.
This difference might seem a little trivial like the difference between saying “hello” and “hello again,” but it's considered rude to say bonjour instead of rebonjour if you've already seen them once that day. This is because when you say bonjour you're implying that this is the first time you've seen them that day.
Say "Bonjour" until the end of the afternoon and "bonsoir" once the evening starts. Bonjour is a greeting and only a greeting at the difference of "bonsoir" that can be used to say good bye in the evening and evening ONLY.
In France, saying bonjour in French is a sign of respect and a cultural norm. It's not optional to forgo the greeting if you want people to know that you understand French manners.
The most important French greetings include bonjour (hello), enchanté(e) (nice to meet you), bonsoir (good evening/hello), salut (hi), coucou (hey), Ça fait longtemps, dis donc (long time no see), Âllo (hello), Ça va? (how are you?), tu vas bien? (have you been well?), quoi de neuf? (what's up?), au revoir!
What is the proper response to bonjour? It's more than sufficient to simply say bonjour back in response to those who greet you, but if you want to go a step beyond, you can respond with comment allez-vous, which is the French equivalent of asking how it's going.
More than a tradition, it's a habit and even a reflex. Of Latin origin, the greeting kissing persists in countries where the culture of contact dominates, and this culture is deeply rooted in France. The French still greet each other by touching each other, kissing or shaking hands.
BONSOIR means GOOD EVENING. BONNE SOIRÉE means HAVE A NICE EVENING. Do you notice the difference? The first one is a way of saying hello.
Pronouncing “Bonjour”
There are several consonants in French that are silent when out at the end of the word. N in “bon” is thus not pronounced - and as “bonjour” is originally a combination of two words - “good” and “day” - n will also be silent here.
The interesting thing about bonjour is that it's not just used in the morning for “good morning” in French. It's also used all throughout the day, roughly until evening. There's no common way of saying “good afternoon” in French.
1. “Hi” in French – Salut! Just as commonly used, but a bit more informal, Salut is what we could call Bonjour's cool kid. Meaning “hi”, “hello” or sometimes even “bye”, Salut is the informal French greeting you can use with family and friends but not with your boss or teacher.
From French bonjour (“hello/good day/good morning”).
The French have an undeniable reputation when it comes to love and sex. They are passionate, enticing and simply irresistible. French people have a way with words and actions that's all about love. And when it comes to displaying their fairness in bed, they are said to be absolute sex gods!
This is a friendly greeting that shows that you are acknowledging that you know and like someone. You can also say the word bisous when messaging with someone or when you are saying bye. The community has this tradition from the Roman empire.
French kissing became popular after WWI
No one really knows the exact reason why we use the term, but it was likely adopted by Americans who traveled to France and kissed French women, who were more comfortable with a bit of tongue action, says Kirshenbaum.
The usual response to merci is de rien (You're welcome – literally, It's nothing) or il n'y a pas de quoi. In a more formal context, you could say Je vous en prie or Je t'en prie.
Merci Beaucoup – Thank you very much
You can reply to this phrase by saying De rien (You are welcome), if it's an informal engagement, or Je vous en prie (You are welcome), in a formal setting.
So to say “hello, how are you?” in French, simply say bonjour, ça va? or salut, ça va? If someone says this to you, you can respond with ça va bien (“it's going well”) or tout va bien (“everything's going well”).
Namaste ! je m'appelle Shuba.