Language/French/Vocabulary/How-to-say-Good-Bye

Here are different ways to take your leave. The one you will use depends on the amount of time you hope to see the person again, the hour of the day, the situation or if you are using a formal or casual language :

Amount of time

• à tout de suite = you will be back immediately or within a few minutes.
• à tout à l'heure = you will be back in a few minutes or a few hours (same day).
• à plus tard = you hope to meet again on the same day in general.
• à bientôt = you hope to meet again in the next few days, the next few weeks
• à la prochaine = you hope you will meet again but do not know when.
• au revoir = we use it when we said goodbye without indicating whether we will meet again or never.
• adieu = we use it when you think you will never going to see the person in our life.

Hour of the day

• bonsoir = if you say Good bye in the evening
• bonne soirée = good evening
• bonne nuit = good night
• bon après-midi = good afternoon
• bonne journée = in the morning : "have a good day"

Context

• bon courage = it's a general well-wishing expression. It can be used in many contexts where the person being spoken to is about to perform a difficult action.
• bonne chance = good luck

Casual language

• Salut : same meaning as "Au revoir"
• Bye : same meaning as "Au revoir" (from the English word)
• Ciao : same meaning as "Au revoir" (from the Italian word)
• A plus : same meaning as " à plus tard"

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