Basic greetings: Common greetings

💬 [Comment ça va ?] is literally more like "How is it going?" than "How are you?" You can reuse [comment] the same way in [Comment allez-vous ?] or [Comment tu t'appelles ?].

🇫🇷 This is a very common everyday greeting, often closer to a quick check-in than a serious question. A short reply like [Ça va ?] or [Ça va, merci.] is the normal move.

💬 French often flips the subject and verb in formal questions: [vous appelez-vous] instead of the plain-order [vous vous appelez]. You can reuse that pattern in [Comment allez-vous ?].

🇫🇷 This sounds polite and fairly formal. In everyday casual speech, people often ask [Vous vous appelez comment ?] instead.

🇫🇷 This is understandable, but in France people more often say [Je m'appelle ^FIRST^] than [Mon nom est ^FIRST^] when introducing themselves.

💬 [Vous] here means "you," but after [de] it can also show who the action is aimed at: "meeting you." Swap it for [te] with someone you address as [tu]: [Enchanté de te rencontrer].

🇫🇷 This is polite and a bit more complete than what many people say in quick real-life introductions. Often just [Enchanté] is enough.

🇫🇷 People in France say this less often than English speakers say "good afternoon." In many situations, [bonjour] still works well through the afternoon.

🇫🇷 [Bonsoir] is both "good evening" and a greeting when you arrive in the evening. Unlike [bonne nuit], you do not use it when leaving for bed.