How to Say Goodbye in French (Without Sounding Like a Textbook)

So you're wondering how to say goodbye in French. You probably already know au revoir. Maybe you learned it in high school, or picked it up from a movie, or your beginner French app drilled it into your head for three weeks straight.

Here's the thing: au revoir is fine. It works. But if that's the only way you know to say goodbye in French, you're going to sound... well, like a beginner. And not in a cute way.

French people have dozens of different ways to say goodbye. The one you choose depends on who you're talking to, when you'll see them again, what time of day it is, and how well you know them. Use the wrong one and you'll get a polite smile. Use the right one and suddenly you sound like you actually speak French.

Let's fix that.

The Two Expressions Every Beginner Needs

Au revoir — The Safe Choice

Au revoir literally means "until we see each other again." It's polite, it's neutral, and you can use it with pretty much anyone — your boss, a shopkeeper, your French teacher, a stranger on the street.

Here's the real pronunciation tip most courses skip: French people don't actually say "oh reh-vwahr" with all the syllables. They glide right through it, almost like "or-vwahr" — one smooth sound. Listen for it next time you watch a French video or movie.

When to use it: Any situation where you're not sure what else to say. It's the français equivalent of a firm handshake — always appropriate, never wrong.

Salut — The Casual Bye

Salut is the informal option. It literally means "hi," but — and this is weird if you're coming from English — French people also use it to say bye. Same word, different context.

Use salut with friends, family, classmates, or anyone you're on casual terms with. But don't use it with your boss on day one of your new job in Paris. That would be like showing up to a business meeting in flip-flops.

Time-Based Goodbyes (This is Where French Gets Specific)

French has way more time-specific goodbyes than English. We basically just have "see you later" and call it a day. French people want to know when later.

À tout de suite — You'll see them in a few minutes. Like, you're just running to the bathroom.

À tout à l'heure — You'll see them later today. Maybe a few hours.

À plus tard — See you later, but no specific time in mind. This one often gets shortened to just à plus (pronounce the 's'), and in text messages you'll see it as A+.

À demain — See you tomorrow. Simple.

À bientôt — See you soon. You expect to meet again fairly soon, but you're not being specific about when.

À la prochaine — Until next time. You have no idea when you'll see them again, and that's fine.

See the pattern? French gives you precision. Once you start using these instead of generic au revoir every single time, you sound like you actually know what you're doing.

The Polite Additions: Bonne journée, Bonne soirée

Here's something that trips up a lot of learners: bonjour and bonne journée look similar, but they're not interchangeable.

Bonjour is hello. You say it when you arrive.

Bonne journée is "have a good day." You say it when you leave.

Same deal with evenings: bonsoir (good evening — a greeting) vs. bonne soirée (have a good evening — a farewell).

And bonne nuit? That's specifically what you say when someone is about to go to bed. It's more like "sleep well" than a general goodbye.

What's nice about these expressions is that French people often layer them. You'll hear things like "Au revoir, bonne journée!" or "Salut, bonne soirée!" It adds warmth without being weird.

The Goodbye You Probably Shouldn't Use: Adieu

You might know adieu from movies or songs. It sounds dramatic and romantic. It literally translates to "to God."

Be careful with this one.

In modern French, adieu implies you're never going to see the person again. Like, ever. It's what you'd say to a family member who's dying, or someone you're breaking up with forever.

If you casually drop an adieu at the end of a coffee date, your French friend is going to think you're either deeply poetic or deeply strange.

Exception: In Swiss French, adieu is weirdly casual and doesn't carry the same finality. So if you're in Geneva, you might hear it used more like a regular goodbye. But in France? Save it for dramatic moments.

Informal Expressions the Textbooks Skip

Once you get comfortable with the basics, here's what you'll actually hear French people say to each other:

On s'appelle — "We'll call each other" / "Let's keep in touch." Common way to end a conversation.

À tout' — Contraction of à tout à l'heure. Very common in spoken French.

Ciao — Yeah, borrowed from Italian. French people use it casually, but only to say bye (never hello, unlike in Italian).

Bisous — Literally "kisses." You'll hear this between family and close friends. Also extremely common at the end of phone calls and text messages.

If you want to go deeper on casual French expressions, our post on French swear words covers some of the... saltier vocabulary you'll encounter.

La Bise: The Physical Goodbye

Here's something your app definitely didn't teach you: French goodbyes often come with cheek kisses.

This is called la bise, and it's exactly as awkward as it sounds when you're not used to it. The basic idea is you lean in, lightly touch cheeks, and make a little kissing sound near their ear. You're not actually planting a kiss on their face.

The confusing part? The number of kisses varies by region. In Paris, it's usually two (one on each cheek). In the south of France, three is common. Some places do four. And depending on where you are, you might start with the right cheek or the left.

General rule: follow the other person's lead. If they lean in, go with it. If they extend their hand for a handshake, don't force a kiss. And definitely don't initiate la bise with someone you just met in a professional setting — that's handshake territory.

Regional Differences Across French-Speaking Countries

French isn't just spoken in France. And the way people say goodbye in French varies depending on where you are.

Quebec, Canada: You'll hear salut followed by "bye" (yes, the English word). French Canadians mix languages casually. Also, weirdly, some people say bonjour to mean goodbye — which will confuse you if you're used to European French.

Belgium: À tantôt is common here, meaning "see you soon" — used in both formal and informal situations.

Switzerland: Adieu is casual here. None of the dramatic "farewell forever" energy it carries in France.

West Africa: French speakers often add religious phrases like "inch'Allah" (God willing) to goodbyes, reflecting local cultural influences.

If you're learning French to consume content from different regions, knowing these variations helps you understand what you're hearing.

The Real Way to Learn This Stuff

Look, I can give you a list of expressions and you can memorize them. That's fine for a start.

But here's what actually makes these stick: hearing them used in context. Over and over. By real French people in real situations.

That's why watching French content — movies, shows, YouTube videos — beats flashcard grinding for vocabulary like this. You hear how salut sounds different as a greeting vs. a goodbye. You notice when someone uses à plus vs. au revoir. You pick up the rhythm and the casual contractions that textbooks never teach.

The problem is that watching French content raw can be brutal, especially if you're still a beginner. You miss stuff. You don't know what you're missing. And pausing every three seconds to look up words kills the experience.

Migaku solves this. The browser extension gives you instant lookups while you're watching Netflix, YouTube, whatever. You see a character say "Allez, à plus!" and you can check the meaning without breaking your flow. If it's a phrase worth remembering — like any of the goodbyes we covered today — you click once and it becomes a flashcard with the audio and context built in.

That's how you actually internalize this stuff. Not by memorizing a list, but by encountering expressions naturally in real content, understanding them in the moment, and reviewing the ones that matter.

If you want to sound like you actually speak French — not just like someone who took two years of high school français — try Migaku free for 10 days. Your goodbyes will get a lot more interesting.

À bientôt