Greetings and introductions

What you will practice

• Choose bonjour, bonsoir, or salut for the situation.
• Use tu with people you know and vous with adults you do not know.
• Give your name and ask for another person’s name.

Explanation

Time of day

Bonjour is the greeting for the morning and the rest of the daytime. Bonsoir is for the evening, when you arrive. Salut is informal, and friends use it both to say hello and to say goodbye. Au revoir is the usual goodbye in a shop, an office, or with someone you do not know well. Bonsoir does not do that leaving job. When you leave, use au revoir.

tu and vous

The pronoun tu is for a friend, a family member, a child, or a peer who has offered it. vous is for an adult you do not know, and also for more than one person. The question follows that choice. Comment tu t'appelles ? is informal. Comment vous appelez-vous ? is formal. In the formal question, the first vous is the reflexive pronoun and the second is the inverted subject. Keep the hyphen.

Names

Je m'appelle Marie answers with your name. The verb is s'appeler, so the pronoun changes with the person: tu t'appelles, il s'appelle, vous vous appelez. On a first meeting, a man says Enchanté and a woman says Enchantée. The extra e is the feminine ending. Match the formality of the question you were asked. A formal question gets vous in the reply as well.

Examples

1. Bonjour !Hello!
2. Comment vous appelez-vous ?What is your name? (formal)
3. Je m'appelle Marie.My name is Marie.
4. Comment tu t'appelles ?What is your name? (informal)
5. Enchanté.Pleased to meet you. (said by a man)

Common mistakes

• Do not use tu with an adult you have just met in a shop, an office, or a classroom. vous is the safe choice.
• Bonsoir greets someone in the evening. When you leave, including in the evening, use au revoir.