How to Say Goodbye in French: 18 Essential Phrases (2026)

TL;DR

The most common way to say goodbye in French is au revoir, which literally means “until we see each other again.” But French has a much richer set of farewells than English, with specific phrases depending on formality, time of day, and when you’ll next see the person. This guide covers 18 essential French goodbye phrases, pronunciation tips, cultural context like la bise, and the common mistakes that trip up beginners.

The short answer is simple: au revoir. That’s the standard, safe, works-everywhere way to say goodbye in French.

But here’s what textbooks don’t tell you right away. French speakers rarely stop at just au revoir. They layer their farewells, mixing in time-of-day wishes and “see you when” phrases to create something warmer and more specific. If you only ever say au revoir, you’ll sound polite but a little stiff, like someone reading from a phrasebook.

This guide gives you every French goodbye you actually need, organized by when and how to use each one.

Practice French vocabulary through RPG gameplay with Lingo Legend, available free on iOS and Android.

Au Revoir: The Default Goodbye in French

Au revoir (oh-ruh-VWAHR) literally translates to “until we see each other again.” It works in almost every situation, from leaving a shop to ending a business meeting to saying goodbye to your neighbor.

A pronunciation note that most courses skip: in modern spoken French, native speakers glide the syllables together so it sounds more like orvoir as a single fluid sound. The textbook pronunciation with a clearly separated re sound marks you as a learner. Not a crime, but something worth knowing.

You can make it more polite by adding a title. Au revoir, Madame or Au revoir, Monsieur signals extra respect, and it’s expected in formal contexts like stores, offices, and anywhere you’d use vous.

The Complete French Goodbye Glossary

Universal and Safe in Any Situation

À bientôt is the natural companion to au revoir. It means “see you soon” and works in both formal and informal settings. One important detail: only use it when you genuinely expect to see the person again relatively soon. Saying it to someone you’ll never meet again sounds odd.

Bonne continuation is a polished phrase you’ll hear at the end of professional interactions. It means something like “all the best going forward” and works well when concluding a project, a course, or any situation with a clear endpoint.

Time-of-Day Farewells

French speakers are more precise about time than English speakers when saying goodbye. These phrases are extremely common and often layered on top of au revoir.

The critical distinction here is between bonne soirée and bonne nuit. If it’s 8pm and you’re leaving a dinner party, say bonne soirée. Reserve bonne nuit for when someone is literally about to go to sleep. Getting this wrong is one of the most common beginner mistakes, and practitioners on language learning forums mention it constantly.

A quick grammar note: you might wonder why it’s bon après-midi (masculine) instead of bonne. The Académie Française recommends the masculine form because midi is a masculine noun. You’ll hear both in practice, but bon is technically correct.

Stacking these with au revoir is not only acceptable, it’s expected. A typical French goodbye sounds like Au revoir, bonne journée! or Salut, bonne soirée! This layering adds warmth without being excessive.

Time-Specific “See You” Phrases

Here’s where saying goodbye in French gets more specific than English. Where English speakers have “see you later” and call it a day, French speakers want to know when later.

À tout de suite means you’ll be back in a few minutes. You’re grabbing coffee, running to the restroom, stepping outside for a call.

À tout à l’heure covers a gap of a few hours. In casual speech, this often gets shortened to just à toute (ah TOOT).

À plus tard is the closest equivalent to the English “see you later” with no specific timeframe. The casual version, à plus (ah PLEWS), drops the tard entirely. Important: pronounce the final S in plus here. It sounds like [a plüs].

À demain is perfect for colleagues and classmates. You know you’ll see them the next day, so you say exactly that.

À la prochaine is for when you have no idea when you’ll next meet, and that’s perfectly fine. It carries a friendly, optimistic tone.

Building vocabulary around time-specific phrases like these takes repetition to stick. Spaced repetition scheduling is one of the most effective methods for locking in this kind of phrase-level knowledge long term.

Casual and Friendly Goodbyes

Salut is the Swiss Army knife of casual French. Most learners know it means “hi,” but it also means “bye.” Same word, both directions. A native French speaker on Quora offered a clear warning: you would never leave a store and say salut to the clerk, even if you’re a teenager. It’s reserved for friends, family, and people you’re already close with. Using it with strangers is a social misstep.

Bisous means “kisses” and works as a warm goodbye among friends and family. Women use it more often, though it’s common in mixed company too. You’ll see it at the end of text messages constantly.

Ciao (or tchao in its Frenchified spelling) is borrowed from Italian and widely used among younger French speakers. It’s casual and breezy.

On s’appelle literally means “we’ll call each other” and serves as a goodbye between people who talk regularly. It implies the relationship is ongoing.

Je me casse is slang, roughly equivalent to “I’m outta here.” The verb casser means “to break,” but se casser means to take off. Friends only. Never in a professional setting.

Handle With Care: Adieu

Adieu (ah-DYUH) derives from à Dieu, meaning “to God.” It carries a weight that au revoir doesn’t. This is the goodbye you use when you don’t expect to see someone again.

French speakers on Quora and travel forums are remarkably consistent about this. One commenter shared that in 25 years of speaking French, the only time they used adieu was visiting a teacher who was dying in the hospital. If you casually drop an adieu at the end of a coffee date, your French friend will think you’re either deeply poetic or deeply strange.

That said, regional usage varies significantly (more on that below).

How to Choose the Right French Goodbye: A Decision Framework

No other guide makes this explicit, but the “which goodbye should I use?” question comes down to three dimensions:

1. Formality: Who are you talking to?

• Boss, stranger, shopkeeper, anyone older you don’t know well → Au revoir (add Monsieur/Madame), bonne journée/soirée, bonne continuation

• Friend, family, close colleague → Salut, bisous, ciao, à plus

• Professional email → Cordialement, Bien cordialement

• Very formal letter → Veuillez agréer mes salutations distinguées

2. Timing: When will you see them again?

• In minutes → À tout de suite

• Later today → À tout à l’heure

• Tomorrow → À demain

• Soon but not sure when → À bientôt

• No idea → À la prochaine

• Never → Adieu (but really think about whether you mean it)

3. Time of day: When is this happening?

• Morning or early afternoon → Add bonne journée

• Afternoon → Add bon après-midi

• Evening → Add bonne soirée

• Bedtime → Bonne nuit

The key insight: French farewells work best when you combine these dimensions. A complete goodbye in French often sounds like Au revoir, Madame, bonne soirée! or Salut, à demain! rather than a single standalone phrase.

Want to build this kind of intuition through practice? French game apps can help you internalize phrases through repeated, contextual exposure.

Pronunciation Tips That Actually Matter

A few pronunciation details make a real difference in how natural you sound:

Au revoir: As mentioned, native speakers compress this to something closer to orvoir. The middle e essentially disappears in fast speech.

À plus: Pronounce the S. It’s a plüs, not a plu. This catches many learners off guard because in other French contexts, the final S is silent.

À tout à l’heure: In everyday speech, this gets clipped to à toute (ah TOOT). Both versions are correct, but the short form is far more common among friends.

Bonne soirée vs. bonne nuit: The oi in soirée makes the wah sound (swah-RAY). The ui in nuit makes the wee sound (NWEE). Mixing these up changes the meaning entirely.

Common Mistakes French Learners Make

These errors come directly from native speakers correcting learners on forums, Quora, and language exchange communities. They’re worth memorizing as firmly as the phrases themselves.

Using adieu casually. This is the most dramatic mistake on the list. In standard French, adieu implies you’ll never see someone again. It’s what you’d say at a deathbed or during a permanent breakup. Dropping it into casual conversation will confuse or alarm the listener.

Saying salut to strangers. Salut is informal. Using it with a shopkeeper, waiter, or anyone you don’t know personally comes across as overly familiar at best, rude at worst. Stick with au revoir for anyone outside your social circle.

Using bonne nuit as an evening goodbye.Bonne nuit means you’re going to bed. If you say it at 7pm while leaving a restaurant, it doesn’t make sense. Bonne soirée is what you want.

Forgetting Monsieur or Madame in formal contexts. A bare au revoir is fine among peers. But in shops, offices, or with older people, adding the title shows respect. Skipping it can feel abrupt.

Avoiding these mistakes is easier when you encounter phrases in context rather than memorizing isolated words. Review techniques for long-term memory can help you build that contextual understanding over time.

Cultural Notes: La Bise and Body Language

You can’t discuss French goodbyes without mentioning la bise, the cheek-kiss that accompanies greetings and farewells alike. In every situation where you’d give la bise as a hello, you’re expected to do it again when saying goodbye.

The number of kisses varies by region. In Paris, two kisses are standard. In Lyon, expect three. Parts of southern France go up to four. As a rule of thumb, follow the other person’s lead. They’ll initiate, and you’ll quickly pick up the local count.

La bise is for friends, family, and social equals. In professional settings, a handshake is the norm, especially when meeting someone for the first time. The boundaries shifted somewhat after COVID, with more people opting for verbal-only farewells, but la bise has largely returned in social contexts.

Regional Variations Across the French-Speaking World

French is spoken across 29 countries, and goodbye customs differ in ways that can trip up learners.

Switzerland:Adieu loses its dramatic weight entirely. Swiss French speakers use it as a casual, everyday goodbye without any implication of permanence. If someone in Geneva says adieu to you, don’t panic.

Belgium: You’ll hear à tantôt frequently, meaning “see you soon.” It fills the same role as à bientôt but is distinctly Belgian. It works in both formal and informal settings.

Quebec: The English word “bye” has been fully absorbed into Québécois French. You’ll hear bye or bye-bye constantly, sometimes mixed with French phrases like bye, bonne journée!

Southern France: In Provence, adieu can mean both hello and goodbye, similar to the Swiss usage. Context makes the meaning clear.

If you’re learning multiple languages at once, understanding regional variation becomes even more important. The “correct” goodbye depends as much on geography as grammar.

French Goodbye Phrases for Texts and Chat

Modern learners text more than they talk, so knowing the abbreviated forms matters.

A+ is probably the most common text sign-off among French friends. It’s casual, quick, and universally understood. Biz works the same way English speakers might end a text with “xo.”

Written and Email Sign-Offs

Formal French writing has its own goodbye conventions, and they matter more than in English because intonation and body language can’t soften a poorly chosen phrase.

Semi-formal (colleagues, acquaintances):

• Cordialement (cordially) is the standard professional email closer

• Bien cordialement adds a touch more warmth

• Amicalement (in a friendly way) works for colleagues you know well

Very formal (official correspondence):

• Veuillez agréer mes salutations distinguées (please accept my distinguished greetings) is the heavyweight formula for letters to institutions, government offices, or people of high rank

• Je vous prie d’agréer l’expression de mes sentiments respectueux is another formal variant

Casual email/messages:

• À bientôt, bisous, or biz work fine among friends

• À + is common in casual workplace chat tools

FAQ

What is the most common way to say goodbye in French?

Au revoir is the most common and universally appropriate French goodbye. It literally means “until we see each other again” and works in formal, informal, and neutral situations. For extra warmth, pair it with a time-of-day phrase like bonne journée or bonne soirée.

Is “adieu” rude in French?

Not rude exactly, but it implies you never expect to see the person again. It carries a permanent, sometimes somber tone. Native speakers on forums report using it almost exclusively in situations involving death or permanent separation. In Switzerland and southern France, however, adieu is used casually without that weight.

Can “salut” mean both hello and goodbye in French?

Yes. Salut works as both a greeting and a farewell, but only in informal contexts. Use it with friends and family. Saying salut to a shopkeeper or stranger is considered a faux pas by native speakers.

What’s the difference between “bonne soirée” and “bonne nuit”?

Bonne soirée means “have a good evening” and is appropriate anytime you’re parting ways during the evening hours. Bonne nuit means “good night” and should only be used when someone is about to go to sleep. Using bonne nuit at 7pm while leaving dinner would sound strange.

How do you say goodbye in French via text message?

The most common text abbreviations are A+ or @+ (à plus, meaning “see you later”), biz (bisous, meaning “kisses”), and slt (salut). These are all informal and appropriate for friends and close contacts.

Do French people really do la bise when saying goodbye?

Yes. In social settings among friends and family, la bise (cheek kisses) happens both at hello and goodbye. The number of kisses varies by region: two in Paris, three in Lyon, up to four in parts of southern France. In professional settings, a handshake is more appropriate.

What is the French goodbye phrase for “see you tomorrow”?

À demain (ah duh-MAN) means “see you tomorrow” and is commonly used with colleagues, classmates, or anyone you have plans to see the following day.

How do you say a formal goodbye in a French email?

The standard professional sign-off is Cordialement. For more formal correspondence, use Veuillez agréer mes salutations distinguées. For friendly but professional emails, Bien cordialement or Amicalement work well.

Knowing how to say goodbye in French is one thing. Retaining all 18 of these phrases so they come to mind naturally is another challenge entirely. Lingo Legend uses spaced repetition built into RPG gameplay to help French vocabulary stick, covering 3,500+ words and phrases across 150+ categories. It’s free to download on iOS and Android.