Say Goodbye in French

The most commonly heard term for “goodbye” in French is “au revoir (this actually means until we see (meet) again)," but the language actually has multiple ways of telling someone farewell. Here are a few of the most common for you to know.

Steps

Cheat Sheet

Doc:Ways to Say Goodbye in French

Common Goodbyes

  1. Say "au revoir" in any setting.[1] This is the standard French translation of the English “goodbye,” and it can be used in both casual and formal settings, with strangers and friends alike.
    • When said as a phrase, au revoir is usually translated directly to "goodbye." The phrase translates more closely to "to see again" or "to meet again," however.
    • Au translates into "to." Revoir translates into see again, meet again, or revise.
    • Pronounce au revoir as oh ruh-vwah.
  2. Use "salut" informally.[2] You can use salut as a way of saying “bye” when among friends or in other casual settings.
    • Avoid using salut in formal settings.
    • Also note that salut can be used to greet someone as well as saying farewell.
    • The term has a variety of translations, including "greeting," "salute," and "all the best."
    • Pronounce salut as sah-loo.
  3. Switch to “adieu.”[3] While adieu is no longer as common as it once was, it can still be used in most contexts as a way of saying farewell.
    • Use "adieu" sparingly; this phrase means "goodbye forever" and is generally only used when you will never see this person again in your life. This phrase can also be said upon your last visit with Care for a Dying Person.
    • A translates into “to,” and Dieu means “God.” Translated more literally, this phrase says “to God” and is the same thing as saying “go with God” or “Godspeed.”
    • A rough pronunciation of adieu would be ah-dyoo ("oo" as in "book")

Wishing Someone Well

  1. Wish someone a good day with "bonne journée." This phrase translates into “good day” and is, essentially, the same thing as saying “have a good day.”
    • Bonne means “good.”
    • Journée means “day.”
    • A general pronunciation of the phrase is bun zhoor-nay .
    • Say "passez une bonne journée” in slightly more formal situations. This translates more literally to “have a good day” or “spend a good day.” Pronounce the sentence as pah-say oon bun zhoor-nay.
  2. Wish someone a good evening with "bonne soirée." This translates literally into “good evening” and is the same thing as telling someone to “have a good evening.”
    • Bonne means “good.”
    • Soirée means “evening.”
    • Pronounce this phrase as bun swahr-ray.
  3. Tell someone to enjoy a trip with "bon voyage," "bonne route," or "bonnes vacances."[4] Each of these phrases can be translated into something along the lines of “have a good trip,” and each can be used to say goodbye to someone embarking on a journey or vacation.
    • Voyage means “travel,” “trip,” or “journey,” so of the three, bon voyage translates most directly into “have a good trip.” Pronounce it as bun voy-ah-zh, with the final "ge" sounding like a soft "j."
    • Route means “road,” “route,” or “way.” The phrase is generally used to say “have a good journey” or “have a safe journey,” and it is pronounced bun rhoot.
    • Vacances means “holiday” or “vacation,” so the phrase “bonnes vacances” means “have a good vacation” or “have a good holiday.” Pronounce it as bun va-kahns.
  4. Use "bonne continuation" for a brief meeting.[5] This phrase is generally only used to say goodbye to someone whom you met briefly and will likely never meet again.
    • The phrase can be translated to mean "good luck" or "good continuation," as "continuation" means the same thing in both French and English.
    • Pronounce the phrase as bun kohn-teen-u-ah-see-ohn. (The final 'n' is soft, nasal.)
  5. Tell someone to take care with "prends soin de toi." In English, this phrase means “take care of yourself.”
    • Prends means "take."
    • Soin means "care."
    • In this context, de means "of."
    • Toi means "you."
    • Pronounce the entire phrase as prah swa doo twah. (swa uses a short 'a', as in 'cat'; doo uses 'oo' as in 'book'.)
  6. Wish someone good luck with "bonne chance" or "bon courage." Both sayings can be told to someone as you depart, and both mean “good luck” in some form.”
    • Bonne chance is used when actual luck or fortune is involved. Chance means "luck," "chance," or "fortune." Pronounce bonne chance as bun shahns.
    • Bon courage is used to tell someone something along the lines of "be persistent" or "keep at it." Courage means "courage" or "fortitude." Pronounce bon courage as bohn koohr-razh.

Other Goodbyes

  1. Give a temporary goodbye with "à la prochaine" or "à bientôt."[6] Both sayings mean something along the lines of "goodbye for now."
    • Translated more directly, à la prochaine means "to the next," essentially meaning "until the next time we meet."
    • Pronounce à la prochaine as "ah lah pro-shen.
    • Directly translated, à bientôt means "to soon," but the basic meaning in English is "see you soon."
    • Pronounce à bientôt as ah bee-ahn-toe.
  2. Use "à plus tard" instead. This phrase roughly means "see you later."
    • Translated more directly, it means "until later." The à means "to," plus means "more," and tard means "late."
    • This phrase is already fairly informal, but you can make it even more informal by dropping off the tard and just saying à plus.
    • Pronounce à plus tard as ah ploo tahr.
  3. Tell someone goodbye for the day with "à demain." This phrase means “see you tomorrow” or “until tomorrow.”
    • Demain means “tomorrow” in English.
    • Pronounce the phrase as ah doo-ma. ("oo" as in 'book', "ma" with short 'a' as in 'cat'.)
  4. Use "à tout à l'heure" or "à tout de suite" when seeing someone soon. Both phrases mean something along the lines of "see you in a little while."
    • Say à tout à l'heure to say "see you soon" or "see you in a while." Pronounce it as ah toot ah leur.
    • Say à tout de suite" to say "see you in a second" or "see you in a little while." Pronounce it as ah too' doo soo-eet. ("doo" with 'oo' as in 'book'.)
  5. Tell someone new, "ravi d’avoir fait ta connaissance." This statement roughly translates into "Happy to have met you."
    • Ravi means "delighted.
    • The rest of the phrase, "d’avoir fait ta connaissance," translates roughly when broken down into its individual parts. When kept together, though, it can be translated as "to have met you."
    • Pronounce the statement as rah-vee da-vwahr fay tah kohn-nay-sahns.

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.uwosh.edu/home_pages/faculty_staff/minniear/pages/LanguageAids.pdf
  2. ↑ http://www.europa-pages.co.uk/lessons/french-basics.html
  3. ↑ http://www.wordreference.com/fren/adieu
  4. ↑ http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/phrase_book/en/greetings.html
  5. ↑ http://www.frenchlearner.com/phrases/goodbye/
  6. ↑ http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-french/goodbye

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