French · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 1 of 12
Hello and goodbye
Bonjour et au revoir
Say hello and goodbye in French at any time of day, introduce yourself, say where you're from and ask how someone is.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Say hello and goodbye at any time of day
- Introduce yourself and say where you're from
- Ask how someone is and answer
- Say “I am”, “you are”, “we are” with the verb être
Listen
Claire meets her neighbour Thomas in the entrance of their building in Lyon. He is with a friend. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Thomas
Bonjour, Claire. Comment allez-vous ?
Hello, Claire. How are you?
Claire
Très bien, merci. Et vous ?
Very well, thank you. And you?
Thomas
Bien, merci. Voici Julie, une amie.
Fine, thanks. This is Julie, a friend.
Julie
Bonjour. Enchantée.
Hello. Nice to meet you.
Claire
Enchantée. Je m'appelle Claire. Vous êtes de Lyon ?
Nice to meet you. My name is Claire. Are you from Lyon?
Julie
Non, je suis de Nantes.
No, I'm from Nantes.
Claire
Au revoir, Julie. Bonne journée.
Goodbye, Julie. Have a good day.
Julie
Merci, vous aussi.
Thank you, you too.
Thomas
À bientôt, Claire.
See you soon, Claire.
Understand
Hello, goodbye and how are you
French greetings depend on the time of day and on who you're talking to. works all day with everyone. is only for people you know well, like friends and family. With people you don't know, add (to a woman) or (to a man):
To ask how someone is, say (polite) or (relaxed). Common answers are and .
| French | English | When |
|---|---|---|
| Hello, good morning | all day, until early evening | |
| Good evening | from about 6 pm | |
| Hi, bye | friends and family only | |
| Goodbye | always | |
| See you soon | when you'll meet again | |
| Have a good day | when you leave, during the day |
- Ça va ? — Ça va, merci.How are you? — Fine, thanks.
- Comment allez-vous ? — Très bien, merci. Et vous ?How are you? — Very well, thank you. And you?
Introducing yourself
means “my name is” (literally “I call myself”). means “I am”, so is “I'm from Nantes”. To ask someone, say Vous êtes de… ? and let your voice rise at the end. Answer with (yes) or (no).
In , the little word has lost its e. French drops this e before a word that starts with a vowel (or a silent h) and writes an apostrophe instead. This is called elision, and you'll see it often.
means “nice to meet you”. A woman writes , with an extra e. Both sound exactly the same.
- Je m'appelle Thomas.My name is Thomas.
- Vous êtes de Lyon ? — Oui.Are you from Lyon? — Yes.
- Vous êtes de Lyon ? — Non, je suis de Nantes.Are you from Lyon? — No, I'm from Nantes.
I, you, we: subject pronouns and être
The words for “I”, “you”, “he” and so on are called subject pronouns: they stand for the person doing the action. French has two words for “you”: for a friend or a family member, and for someone you don't know well or for more than one person. Claire and Julie have just met, so they say . Chapter 3 tells you more.
means “he” and means “she”. For “they”, say for a group of women only and for men or a mixed group. is the everyday word for “we” in conversation. It takes the same verb form as and : (we are).
(to be) is the most useful verb in French. It's irregular, which means it doesn't follow a pattern, so learn its forms by heart. and sound the same: “eh”.
| Subject | (to be) |
|---|---|
| I | |
| you (to a friend) | |
| he / she / we () | / / |
| we | |
| you (polite or plural) | |
| they | / |
- Tu es de Lyon ? — Non, je suis de Nantes.Are you from Lyon? (to a friend) — No, I'm from Nantes.
- Nous sommes de Lyon.We're from Lyon.
- Elles sont de Nantes.They're from Nantes. (all women)
Sounds: silent letters and liaison
Many final consonants are silent in French: sounds like “voo” and like “treh”. The t of (and) is never pronounced.
When n follows a vowel at the end of a word or before a consonant, the n itself is usually not heard. Instead, the vowel becomes nasal: you say it partly through your nose, as in and .
A silent final consonant sometimes wakes up when the next word starts with a vowel. This is called liaison. A final s then sounds like z, and a final t like t.
| French | Sounds roughly like |
|---|---|
| voo | |
| treh byeh(n), with a nasal vowel | |
| bo(n)-zhoor, with a nasal vowel | |
| voo-zet (liaison) | |
| ko-man-ta-lay-voo (liaison) |
More in the grammar: Asking questions · Être and avoir: to be and to have · Subject pronouns: je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles · The French alphabet and pronunciation
New words
- bonjourhello, good morning
- comment allez-vous ?how are you? (polite)
- très bien, mercivery well, thank you
- et vous ?and you? (polite)
- voici…this is…, here is…
- un ami / une amiea friend (man / woman) · and sound the same
- enchanté / enchantéenice to meet you · a woman writes ; same sound
- je m'appelle…my name is…
- vous êtes de… ?are you from…? (polite)
- je suis de…I'm from…
- au revoirgoodbye
- bonne journéehave a good day
- vous aussiyou too (polite)
- à bientôtsee you soon
Practise
1.It's 8 pm and you walk into a shop. What do you say?
2.Complete the sentence: “My name is Julie.”
My name is Julie.
3.Complete with the right form of : “We're from Lyon.”
We're from Lyon.
4.Julie is a woman. How does she write “nice to meet you”?
5.Put the words in order to introduce yourself.
Tap the words below in the right order.Hello, my name is Julie.
6.Match the French with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Bonjour, madame. Comment allez-vous ?
Hello. How are you?
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.