Au revoir. (Oh reh-vwah) This is the most common ways of saying goodbye in French, and it's acceptable for the vast majority of situations, formal and informal.
#1 Au revoir - “Goodbye” in French
In French, au revoir is a common way you'll hear people say “goodbye” in French and its acceptable in most situations--both formal and informal.
8 – Ciao!
It's very informal and used mainly between friends and people you already know very well. Ciao is very common and equates to “salut!” for saying goodbye.
À bientôt – See you soon
For example, saying goodbye after a romantic date, assuming you wish to see that person again.
One major difference is that Bonsoir can be used to say goodbye, whereas bonjour never is. This means that you can use Bonsoir when you meet someone (evening hours), and at the same time, you can use Bonsoir upon leaving (again not during the day).
2. The casual one: Salut! Meaning: “Bye!” About: Kind of functionally a French ciao or aloha, salut is a general greeting that can be used for both hello and goodbye.
“Adieu” is almost last in my list because it's also no longer used in French. It literally means “See you (when we'll be with) God”.
French: ciao, tchao, tchô (mostly used to say "goodbye"). "Tchao" is slang in French. In 1983, this word was used in the title of the popular movie Tchao, pantin (So Long, Stooge).
Taken together, ciao bella is a colloquial, familiar way of saying “hello” or “goodbye” to one woman (as opposed to a group). The masculine version of the expression is ciao bello.
1 – Non, The Typical No in French
The typical way to say “no” in French is “non“.
Origin of French Leave
It is common to hear this in the context of someone abandoning his or her military duties. This expression allegedly comes from the practice of French people leaving a party without saying goodbye to the host. According to OED, it was first recorded shortly after the Seven Years' War.
Adieu is used when you are leaving someone for a long long time and if you are unsure when you might see her or him again. Au revoir is used when you leave someone that you might probably see again and soon.
Au revoir means goodbye when it's expected that the two people will see each other again. Adieu, however, means goodbye forever. The word “adieu” is most commonly used when somebody passes away.
Ciao is an Italian word often used in French too. The Italians use it to mean either "hi" or "bye", but in French it generally means "bye".
Moving on to other ways to say hello in Italian, if you want to greet a group of friends you can also say Ciao a tutti which means “Hello everybody”.
Most of you know the formal expression “bonjour”, and you should since it's the most common way to greet someone in French. We use it to greet people in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening. “Bonjour” is always polite, and works in any situation.
In France, saying bonjour in French is a sign of respect and a cultural norm. It's not optional to forgo the greeting if you want people to know that you understand French manners.
In the U.S. you can say “hello,” or “hi,” or even “hello again” to someone as many times as you see them in a day, but in France you have one bonjour for the whole day.
What is the proper response to bonjour? It's more than sufficient to simply say bonjour back in response to those who greet you, but if you want to go a step beyond, you can respond with comment allez-vous, which is the French equivalent of asking how it's going.
Firstly, how do you actually say “hello” in French? The most common greeting in French is the very useful “bonjour”, and “bonsoir”. The first can be used throughout the day, and the second in the evening. “Salut” is also widely used in a more informal setting.
The most common way to say hello in French is of course “bonjour”. This literally means good day and can be used for good morning in French too. This is used all day until around sunset, when you should stop saying bonjour and start saying “bonsoir”, which means good evening in French.