The French language is renowned for its elegance and charm, particularly evident in the subtle nuances between all our potential greetings and farewells. Whether parting with a gesture of affection, a promise of future meetings, or a simple acknowledgment of the day’s end, our options for saying goodbye in French are as diverse as they are picturesque.

In today’s post we’ll go deeper than the standard au revoir, exploring the range of French goodbye expressions. Read on to become equipped for any scenario, from casual encounters to formal separations. Get ready to discover the perfect parting words for every occasion and learn to leave with the same grace and poise that the French language embodies!

Au revoir: The quintessential farewell

At the heart of French goodbyes lies au revoir, a versatile and universally accepted parting phrase. Despite its literal meaning of until we see each other again, its use extends to both temporary and final departures. It’s a safe choice in almost any context, from hanging up the phone to daily interactions to more formal goodbyes.

• Merci d’avoir appelé. Au revoir ! – Thanks for calling. Goodbye!

• Je dois aller prendre le dernier bus. Au revoir, mes amis ! Passez une belle fin de soirée ! – I need to go catch the last bus. Bye bye, my friends! Have a good rest of the night!

À plus tard, À plus, À tout à l’heure: Informal and easy

Along the same lines as au revoir, several other French goodbyes carry the hope of future meetings.

À plus tard or its abbreviated form à plus are friendly ways to say see you later in French. An equivalent is à tout à l’heure, with its very informal abbreviation of à toute. Any of these can be used as the perfect casual farewell before you meet up later in the day.

• Je dois deposer les enfants à l’école, et ensuite j’ai rendez-vous chez le dentiste. J’arriverai chez toi vers midi alors. / Pafait, à tout à l’heure ! – I need to drop the kids off at school, and then I have a dentist appointment. So, I should get to your place around noon. / Perfect. See you later!

• Je vais aller faire les courses, de retour vers 14h. / D’accord, à plus ! – I’m heading off to do the shopping, back around 2pm. / Ok, later!

À plus is such a common casual goodbye that it’s used constantly in French text message abbreviations as à+. If you’re in touch with French speakers with any messaging app, you’ll surely see à+ as a quick bye bye in French!

À tout de suite: A goodbye before a hello

We just saw the expressions we use when we’ll see each other later in the day, but what if we’re saying goodbye in French right before we’ll see each other again? À tout de suite means essentially see you in a moment, so it’s the perfect farewell just before meeting up as we hang up the phone or send a last text message.

We use à tout de suite, for example, when we’re on the bus and just a few stops from the rendez-vous point, or when we ring our friend’s apartment and they buzz us in through the building’s interphone. See you in a moment!

• Salut! Montez au 4e étage. Ma porte est à droite avec le tapis arc-en-ciel. À tout de suite! – Hey! Come up to the 4th floor. My door is on the right with the rainbow carpet. See you in a moment!

• Nous venons de quitter le métro, alors nous arrivons d’ici quelques minutes. À toute de suite ! – We just got off the metro, so we’ll arrive in a few minutes. See you in a moment!

À demain, À [day], À [time]: A gentle reminder of time

For farewells tied to specific times or periods, the French language elegantly allows for phrases like à midi, à samedi, or even something as distant as à janvier, blending the practical with the poetic. The most common time we use with this construction is surely à demain, which is our way of saying see you tomorrow in French.

• Passez un bon week-end. À lundi ! – Have a good weekend. See you on Monday!

• Je suis vraiment content que nous nous reverrons bientôt. À demain! – I’m really happy that we’ll be seeing each other soon. See you tomorrow!

If you need to review the vocab for time periods, check out our posts on telling time in French, days of the week, and months and seasons.

À bientôt: Promising future encounters

À bientôt in French translates to see you soon, so this is the perfect goodbye in French when we expect to see each other again before too long. Whereas the expressions we saw in the previous section are really only used when we know we’ll see each other later in the same day, à bientôt can be used when the next meeting is any time in the foreseeable future. We can say à bientôt when we’re leaving our house to go meet the other person, or we can say à bientôt if we know we’ll see each other next week. We don’t even need to know we’ll see each other again, with à bientôt acting more as a promising invitation for a future encounter.

• Vous êtes en route ? Si vous prenez le métro, ça vous prendra environ 30 minutes. À bientôt ! – You’re on your way? If you’re taking the subway, it’ll take you around 30 minutes. See you soon!

• Je prends le train de Paris à 6h demain matin, donc j’arriverai chez toi à Marseille avant midi. À bientôt ! – I’m taking the train from Paris at 6am tomorrow morning, so I’ll arrive to your place in Marseille before noon. See you soon!

À la prochaine: Vague yet hopeful

When the future meeting is uncertain, à la prochaine offers a hopeful note without committing to a specific timeframe. Meaning until next time or see you next time, it’s a perfect French goodbye for both new acquaintances and old friends when we want to suggest seeing each other again without committing to anything. It’s even common at restaurants when satisfied clients are leaving, serving as a subtle invitation for them to come back again soon!

• Merci pour un autre happy hour agréable. À la prochaine ! – Thanks for another fun happy hour. See you next time!

• Nous sommes contents que vous avez bien aimé votre repas. À la prochaine ! – We’re glad you enjoyed your meal. Until next time!

Salut, Ciao: Casual goodbyes

For a more relaxed departure, salut offers a dual-purpose greeting, since it can be used both a a French hello or goodbye. It’s suitable in low-key situations, whether at happy hour or among friends and family.

Meanwhile, the Italian loanword ciao has found its niche in the French language as a laid-back farewell, again reserved for informal settings. Unlike in Italian where it can also mean hello, however, we only use ciao to say goodbye in French.

• J’ai besoin d’aller. Salut ! – I need to go. Bye!

• Merci pour le café, refaisons ça une autre fois. / Bien sûr. Ciao ! – Thanks for the coffee, let’s do it again sometime. / Of course. Ciao!

Bisous: Sweet and endearing

Between close friends and family members, we sometimes say goodbye in French by mentioning the little greeting kisses that we do when greeting each other and parting ways in person. Whereas la bise is the act of giving these little kisses, the little kisses themselves are called bisous. As a French goodbye between close friends, saying bisous is common over the phone, by text message, or as a closing to an email or a letter.

Saying goodbye with bisous may have a flirty undertone if that’s the nature of the relationship, but it’s definitely not strictly romantic. We might translate this use of the expression into English as hugs, since bisous play a similar role in French greetings and departures.

• Trop content de t’avoir parlé. Merci d’avoir appelé. Bisous ! – So pleased to have talked with you. Thanks for calling. Hugs!

• Tu me manques. Bisous ! – I miss you. Kiss kiss!

Bonne journée, Bonne soirée: Wishing well

To leave someone with good wishes for the day or evening ahead, bonne journée and bonne soirée are customary, reflecting the French culture’s emphasis on well-being and courtesy. Bonne journée is used anytime during the day, meaning have a good day, while bonne soirée is used as of the late afternoon since it means have a good evening. While these shortened forms are most common, we can even extend the expressions by prefacing them with the imperative passez une bonne journée, creating the full phrase whereby we’re telling someone to have a good day.

These French goodbyes can be used between friends, with colleagues, between shopkeepers and clients, or even between total strangers who just had some minor interaction. Basically, bonne journée and bonne soirée are the perfect polite goodbyes in French when we want to express a bit of formality.

• Pardon, est-ce que ce train va à l’aéroport ? / Oui. L’aéroport est la dernière station. Bonne journée, madame. – Pardon me, does this train go to the airport? / Yes, the airport is the last station. Have a good day, ma’am.

• Merci beaucoup. Passez une bonne soirée. – Thank you very much. Have a good evening.

Note that bonne soirée is really just for the evening. When it’s bedtime, we have a full post on how to say good night in French.

Adieu: The final farewell

Reserved for the most permanent of goodbyes, adieu carries a profound sense of finality, a farewell for those we may never see again. Its use is poignant and laden with emotion, marking the end of an era or a significant departure.

• Bonne chance dans votre nouvelle vie au Canada ! Adieu. – Good luck in your new life in Canada! Farewell.

• Une dernière fois, je veux souhaiter mes grandes élicitations à tous les diplômés. Adieu ! – One last time, I want to wish my great congratulations to all of the graduates. Farewell!

Conclusion: Encapsulating the French goodbye

Our exploration reveals the depth and breadth of farewells in the French language, from the casual to the formal, from the immediate to the indefinite.

Each of the French goodbye phrases we saw today offers a window into the cultural nuances of parting, ensuring that every goodbye, whether fleeting or final, is spoken with grace and intention.

With this guide on how to say to goodbye in French, you’re now prepared to navigate the complexities of French farewells, enriching your conversations and ensuring that every departure is as meaningful as the connection it honors.

Whether you’re bidding adieu to a colleague, saying au revoir to an acquaintance, or extending bisous to a close friend, the perfect French goodbye is now at your fingertips.

À la prochaine, dear readers. May your farewells be as heartfelt as your greetings!