Bye in French? Depends on the situation of course.
Just like in English, you have a lot of different words. Classic one to slang, to words that are not quite slang but used so often you do need to learn them.
In this article, I’m going to show you 7 ways to say bye in French.
Pick and chose according to your situation. And c’est parti!
Author : Marie Drouvin
Salut! Je suis Marie and I'm on a mission to make learning French simple. You can find me on Youtube, or here, on this blog. And if you want to know more about how to learn French, take a look at my book.
The classic Aurevoir
The most classic and standard way to say bye in French is Aurevoir.
That’s a word you probably learned a long time ago. Maybe even one of your first French words right?
It’s so standard it’s not used that often. I mean, if you regularly speak with someone in English you rarely actually say goodbye right?
You might say simply bye, or even something else.
So when should you say Aurevoir in french?
When you don’t know the person. Typically, when you exit a shot.
Merci, bonne journée. Au revoir.
Thank you, have a good day. Goodbye. It’s almost mechanical.
You can find Au Revoir in expressions as well.
Ce n’est qu’un au revoir : It’s only a goodbye
Dire au revoir : to say goodbye
Literally, Au Revoir means ‘To see again’.
You’ll find this particular construction (au+something) in other expressions, including one on this page 
The fun one - Salut
The little brother of Au Revoir, more casual, a little bit crazier, is Salut.
Yes, it’s also a greeting!
You can start a conversation with Salut and end it with Salut! French truly is amazing, right?
In English, I would translate it as ‘bye’.
Ok, j’y vais. Salut! : Ok, I’m going. Bye!
You will find the word Salut in many latine languages – including Romanian – as it comes from Latin!
Salve! : Salut in Latin.
You might also find it inside French sentences, in the form of a noun.
Il m’a fait un salut de la main : (Lit.) He did a goodbye sign with his hand : He waved at me.
Or as a French verb.
Je vous salue Marie. : Hail Marie (first words of the prayer Ave Maria)
Saluer quelqu’un : to greet someone
Bye in French - Bye
Surprise surprise, we do also use bye in French!
This will probably be frowned upon by the (old and wrinkly) members of L’Académie Française, but hey I’m all for teaching you the French we actually use, not some idealised romanticised version of it.
And we do use English words (even if not always correctly).
Beware though, English words used in French usually have a slang-ish connotation.Â
Je me sauve, bye! : I’m off, bye!
You can retain your English accent while saying it OR you can say it with a French accent – as you like.
I personally like to show off my English accent with it ahah
Bye in French - À plus!
Sometimes also spelled A+ (because it’s pronounced the same), Ã plus is a casual, yet not slang, way to say Bye in French.
It doesn’t quite mean goodbye per se, but you say it to replace it. In English, I would translate it as ‘see you’.
Literally though, it means ‘to plus’ (to later – hey didn’t we see a similar structure earlier? I think so 😉).
À plus les filles! : See you girls!
You can use it on its own, or, as seen in the example, while addressing specific people or a specific person.
À plus Jean!
À plus mon amour!
Another bye in French - À bientôt!
If you don’t want to be as casual as with À Plus, you can say À Bientôt.
It literally means See you soon. And it uses the same structure as À plus, and Au Revoir.
À bientôt Maman! : See you soon Mum!
Again, you can use it on its own, as in interjection. On its own.
But you might find bits of it in expressions, like these.
Bientôt : soon
Je rentre bientôt : I’m coming back soon.
Bientôt, le jour va se lever. : Soon, the day is going to rise.
The coolest goodbye in French - À la prochaine!
This one is one of my favourites! I use it a fair bit. You might have noticed I sometimes sign my emails with it.
(If you are receiving the French Club Letters)
Same structure here. Easy peasy right?
J’y vais. À la prochaine les gars! : I’m off, see you next time boys!
Prochain(e) : the next
Bye in French - Adieu
Our final one is quite… final. (I have a wonderful sense of humour really).
You might have heard it in English! It’s Adieu.
Which comes from À dieu.
Which means – ‘to God’.
Adieu mon amour! : Farewell my love!
So dramatic…
I hope our goodbye is not a Adieu, because I still have so much more to show you!
For example:
7 ways to say hello in French – Casual edition
Ever wonder if you could be casual in French from your first hello? Well yeah! And there are several words to do that. Let’s see
Yes in French 🇫🇷 10 ways to say oui in French
How to say yes in French? You shouldn’t say ‘oui’ in all situations! Let’s find out 10 ways to say yes in French.
