Day 2: Greetings
In France a greeting is not politeness, it is the entry ticket. Walk into a shop without saying Bonjour and you are simply a rude person. The 8 expressions you learn today are the highest-frequency French you will ever use.
1. Which one, when — the whole map
| Expression | Respelling | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonjour | bohn-ZHOOR | Hello | Morning until ~6pm. Always this one with strangers |
| Bonsoir | bohn-SWAR | Good evening | After dark |
| Salut | sa-LEW | Hi / bye | Friends only. Works for both arriving and leaving |
| Coucou | koo-KOO | Heya | Very close friends, mostly in texts |
| Au revoir | oh ruh-VWAR | Goodbye | The default on leaving |
| Bonne journée | bun zhoor-NAY | Have a good day | Leaving during the day (essential on the way out of a shop) |
| Bonne soirée | bun swa-RAY | Have a good evening | Leaving in the evening |
| À bientôt | a byan-TOH | See you soon | Someone you will see again |
★ If you remember one thing: Bonjour going into a shop, restaurant or lift, Au revoir, bonne journée ! on the way out. Those two alone make you "the polite foreigner" instead of "the rude tourist".
⚠️ English-speaker trap: "Bonjour" is not "Hi". English lets you walk into a shop silently, or open with "Hi, do you have…". In French, going straight to your question without Bonjour reads as genuinely aggressive. Greet first, ask second. Always.
2. Asking how someone is — three levels of formality
| Register | Expression | Respelling | Who |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formal | Comment allez-vous ? | ko-mahn ta-lay VOO | Strangers, anyone senior |
| Neutral | Comment ça va ? | ko-mahn sa VA | Most situations |
| Casual | Ça va ? | sa VA | Friends, colleagues |
Answers
| Answer | Respelling | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Ça va bien, merci. | sa va BYAN, mair-SEE | I'm well, thanks |
| Très bien ! | treh BYAN | Very good! |
| Ça va. | sa VA | I'm alright |
| Pas mal. | pa MAL | Not bad |
| Comme ci, comme ça. | kom SEE, kom SA | So-so |
| Pas très bien. | pa treh BYAN | Not great |
★ Ça va is both the question and the answer. A complete real French exchange can be "Ça va ?" — "Ça va !" and nothing else.And you add "Et vous ?" (ay VOO, "and you?") after your answer. Leaving it off is the same small rudeness as in English.3. Meeting someone for the first time
| French | Respelling | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Enchanté. (m) / Enchantée. (f) | ahn-shahn-TAY | Pleased to meet you |
| Ravi de vous rencontrer. | ra-VEE duh voo rahn-kohn-TRAY | Delighted to meet you (more formal) |
The spelling changes with your own gender but the sound is identical. Ignore it when speaking; only worry when writing.
⚠️ There is no French "Nice to meet you, how are you?" combo. Do not stack them.Enchanté stands alone.
4. Dialogue ① — running into someone you know
A: Salut Marie ! Ça va ?sa-LEW ma-REE! sa VA?Hi Marie! How's it going?B: Salut ! Ça va bien, merci. Et toi ?sa-LEW! sa va BYAN, mair-SEE. ay TWA?Hi! I'm good, thanks. And you?A: Ça va. À bientôt !sa VA. a byan-TOH!I'm alright. See you soon!B: Au revoir !oh ruh-VWAR!Bye!
★ They are friends, so it is toi (you, informal). In a formal situation it becomes vous → "Et vous ?" English has lost this distinction entirely, so you have to think about it consciously: vous with every stranger until they switch first.
5. Dialogue ② — walking into a bakery
Customer: Bonjour madame !bohn-ZHOOR ma-DAM!Baker: Bonjour monsieur ! Vous désirez ?bohn-ZHOOR muh-SYUH! voo day-zee-RAY?Hello! What would you like?Customer: Une baguette, s'il vous plaît.ewn ba-GET, seel voo PLEH.One baguette, please.Baker: Voilà. Merci, bonne journée !vwa-LA. mair-SEE, bun zhoor-NAY!Here you go. Thanks, have a good day!Customer: Merci, au revoir !mair-SEE, oh ruh-VWAR!
Titles: monsieur (muh-SYUH) to a man, madame (ma-DAM) to a woman.Mademoiselle has fallen out of use — madame is the safe choice for any adult woman.⚠️ Note that French uses these constantly where English would use nothing at all."Bonjour madame" is normal; bare "Bonjour" to a shopkeeper is a little curt.
6. Pronunciation points (and a Day 1 review)
| Word | Watch out |
|---|---|
| Bonjour | j is not English j as in jump. It is the s in vision → zh |
| Salut | final t silent → sa-LEW. And u is the [y] sound, not loo |
| Au revoir | both r's are throat r's → oh ruh-VWAR, never an English r |
| bonjour | on is nasal → bohn, tongue never touches the roof of the mouth |
| Bonne journée | bonne breaks the nasal (n+e) → bun, but journée keeps the zh |
⚠️ Stress check: all of these land on the last syllable. English instinct wants BON-jour; French says bohn-ZHOOR.
7. Exercises
A. Pick the right greeting for each situation.
- 8pm, walking into a restaurant →
- Saying bye to a friend →
- 10am, meeting a business contact for the first time →
- Leaving a shop in the afternoon →
B. Fill in the blank.
- — Ça va ? — Ça va bien, merci. Et ______ ? (to a friend)
- — Comment ______ -vous ? (formal)
- — Bonjour ! — Bonjour ! ______ désirez ?
C. Say it in French.
- Pleased to meet you. 2. See you soon. 3. Have a good evening.
D. ⚠️ True or false?
- "Salut" is a safe way to greet a shopkeeper you have never met.
- You can walk into a boulangerie and open with your order.
Answers
A. 1. Bonsoir 2. Salut / Au revoir / À bientôt 3. Bonjour 4. Au revoir, bonne journée B. 1. toi 2. allez 3. Vous C. 1. Enchanté(e). 2. À bientôt. 3. Bonne soirée. D. 1. False — Salut is friends only; use Bonjour. 2. False — Bonjour first, always.
8. Today's 10 sentences
- Bonjour, madame. — Hello (bohn-ZHOOR ma-DAM)
- Bonsoir, monsieur. — Good evening (bohn-SWAR muh-SYUH)
- Salut ! — Hi (sa-LEW)
- Ça va ? — How's it going? (sa VA)
- Ça va bien, merci. Et vous ? — I'm well, thanks. And you? (sa va BYAN mair-SEE, ay VOO)
- Comment allez-vous ? — How are you? (ko-mahn ta-lay VOO)
- Enchanté. — Pleased to meet you (ahn-shahn-TAY)
- Au revoir ! — Goodbye (oh ruh-VWAR)
- Bonne journée ! — Have a good day (bun zhoor-NAY)
- À bientôt ! — See you soon (a byan-TOH)
9. 📲 Upload to LangNote
Upload both dialogues (sections 4 and 5). From today there is real dialogue in the file, so the missions have something proper to work with.
| Mission | What to do with it today |
|---|---|
| ✍️ Dictation | The dialogue lines — train your ear on Bonjour vs Bonsoir |
| 🗣 Shadowing | Repeat only the customer's lines |
| 🎭 Role-play | Today's highlight — run the "bakery customer" scene with the AI |
| 📖 Vocab | The 10 greeting expressions |
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