In French au revoir means goodbye (formal) and salut means bye (informal). However, there are lots of other informal expressions such as je me casse (I’m outta here!). This post covers 15 formal and slang expressions for goodbye and provides excellent audio.
Goodbye in French
15 Ways To Say Goodbye In French
1. Au revoir = See you again
Au revoir is the most common and most formal way of saying goodbye in French. Au revoir literally means “until I see you again” with the “au” meaning “to” and “revoir” meaning “see again”.
au revoir
goodbye
2. Salut! = Bye! (Informal)
Salut is another very common way of saying goodbye. However, it’s informal and should only be used with people you know well and kids. It would be very impolite to say “salut” in a business situation or with strangers.
salut
bye
3. À la prochaine = See you next time!
À la prochaine is an expression that translates to “see you next time”. The literal translation of à la prochaine is “to the next” and what it really means is “À la prochaine fois”, with fois meaning “time”.
à la prochaine
see you next time
4. À tout à l’heure! = See you later!
“À tout à l’heure” translates to see you later, with heure meaning “hour”. This expression is used to say “see you later” within the same day. You would not use this expression if you were seeing the other person on a different day.
à tout à l’heure
see you later
5. À plus tard! = See you later!
À plus tard is another way of saying see you later! Unlike the previous expression you can use this to say “see you later” for the same day or another day or time in the future.
à plus tard
see you later
6. À tout de suite! = See you right away!
À tout de suite means “see you right away”, or “in a few minutes”. The expression tout de suite means right away or immediately. If somebody calls saying they’ll arrive in five minutes, you can reply “à tout de suite!“.
à tout de suite
see you soon
7. Adieu! = Goodbye!
Adieu means goodbye but it has a rather serious connotation as it implies “goodbye forever”. It’s used most often when somebody passes away. Adieu is rarely used in conversational French.
adieu
goodbye
8. Ciao! = Bye!
Ciao comes from Italian and means bye. 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.
ciao
bye
9. Bon, Je te laisse! = Well, I’m off!
“Bon, Je te laisse!” is an expression which translates literally to “good, I leave you!”. Another translation is “Well, I’m off”. You can use this expression to end a telephone coversation. The formal version of this expression is “Je vous laisse”.
Bon, je te laisse.
Well, I’m off.
10. À demain! = See you tomorrow!
“À demain!” means see you tomorrow. The “À” here means see you and “demain” means tomorrow. Hence, “à demain” means “see you tomorrow!”
à demain
see you tomorrow
11. À + day of week!
À plus any day of the week means see you on that given day. “À dimanche!” means “see you on Sunday!”
à dimanche
See you Sunday.
12. Je m’en vais! = I’m outta here!
“Je m’en vais!” translates to “I’m off” or “I’m leaving” and is what you’d say when leaving a group of people. The infinitive, “s’en aller” means “to leave” or “to be off”.
je m’en vais
I’m off / I’m leaving
13. Je me casse! = I’m outta here!
“Je me casse!” is slang and is the more informal version of “je m’en vais”. This phrase translates to “I’m outta here!”. The verb casser means “to break”. “Se casser” as a reflexive verb means “to be off” or “to be out of here”.
je me casse
I’m outta here!
14. Bonne continuation!
The expression “bonne continuation!” is used when you’ve known somebody for a given period of time and now you’re parting ways. A loose translation is “good luck you your future endeavors”.
bonne continuation
Good luck in your future endeavors.
15. Bonjour! = Goodbye in French Canadian
It might seem strange to see bonjour on this list here because it means hello. However, in Québec and other Francophone regions of Canada you can use “bonjour” at the end of a conversation to say goodbye.
bonjour
goodbye (French Canadian)
Related lessons:
French phrases | Lessons by David Issokson
