Learn How to Say Goodbye in French

Once you know all there is to know about saying bonjour, you can work on saying goodbye in French. Here again, you have some options. The Standard French Way of Saying Goodbye Au revoir is pronounced or voar in modern French. Its not a mistake per se to pronounce the e, but most people would glide over it nowadays. Au revoir always works, no matter what the situation is, so if there is one word to remember, its this one. When you can, add monsieur, madame or mademoiselle or the persons name if you know it after au revoir, its much more polite to do so in French. Be Careful With Salut Salut is a very informal French greeting. It can be used when you arrive, kind of like hey in English. And it can also be used as you leave, with friends, in a very relaxed setting or if you are younger. Bonne Soirà ©e Is Different From Bonne Nuit Now, when you leave, you may also say something beginning with have a good... Bonne journà ©e: have a good day.Bon(ne) aprà ¨s-midi: have a good afternoon (un/une aprà ¨s-midi is both masculine and feminine... Its weird, I know. In any case, no matter the spelling of bon/bonne here, the pronunciation will be the same because of the liaison.) Now, when it comes to saying have a good night, as in a good night out, with your friends, you need to say: bonne soirà ©e. Its a mistake I hear a lot; students of French do a literal translation and say: bonne nuit. But a French person would only use bonne nuit before someone goes to bed, as in have a good night sleep. So you need to be particularly careful about that. Bonsoir Is Hello in the Evening and Goodbye Bonsoir is mostly used to say hello when you arrive somewhere in the evening, we use it from time to time to say goodbye. In that case, it means the same as bonne soirà ©e have a good evening. Saying Bye, Tchao, Adios in French Why are other idioms appropriate here? Well, its very trendy among French people to use other languages to say goodbye. Actually bye, or bye-bye is extremely common! French speakers will pronounce it the English way (well, as much as the French accent permits it...) Formal and Outdated Farewells Adieu literally means to God. It used to be the way we said goodbye, farewell in French, so youll find it in literature and other classic mediums. But it has changed, and today, its really outdated, and carries the notion of forever goodbye.   Gestures Associated With Au revoir Just as with bonjour, the French will shake hands, wave, or kiss goodbye. The French dont bow. And there is no true French equivalent to an American hug. You should also practice your French greetings and kissing vocabulary  and you may also want to learn  how to say see you soon in French.