Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Greetings

Trying to shed some light on the various French greetings:
  • bonjour = hello, can be used pretty much anytime you meet someone (during daytime)
  • bonne matinée = have a good morning
  • bonne journée = although similar in meaning as bonjour, used mostly after having met someone for the first time in the day, to wish him a good day
  • bonne après-midi = similarly, used to wish someone a good afternoon when parting ways. Note that après-midi can be both masculine and feminine, so bon après-midi works as well, and is pronounced the same. If it is late in the afternoon, you can also say bonne fin d'après-midi (have a good rest of the afternoon)
  • bonsoir = good evening (when meeting someone)
  • bonne soirée = enjoy your evening (again, used generally when leaving someone). You can also say bonne fin de soirée (have a good rest of the evening, e.g. if you're leaving for the night but people are staying behind)
  • bonne nuit = good night
  • bon week-end = have a good week-end

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