cassidain
Senior Insider
No 1
Pascale is busy these days earning tons of dollars or euros or whatever and has asked me (un anglophone !) to fill in for her for a while with the Friday French lessons. She's promised to take time out of her busy schedule to correct my errors...which will inevitably occur. Merci, Madame.
I think that, as non-French speakers, the most one can aspire to in the context of conversations with native speakers on Saint-Barth (virtually all of whom speak good to very good English) is to sprinkle one's English with a few French words or short, formulaic expressions. It's a satisfying endeavor nonetheless for the non-French speaker.
At the risk of repeating some ground previously covered, we'll start at the logical beginning.
Salutations
Bonjour - the universal "hello", "good morning", "good day" during daylight hours until perhaps early evening.
Bonsoir - in the evening or very early morning hours "hello", "good evening".
Salut - “hello” used day or evening but in a strictly familiar and casual register. during the first week of my last stay I greeted my host with a, “bonjour. vous allez bien ?”. after that, due to an increased familiarity and the growing warmth of our relationship, we both switched to, “salut. ça va ?”.
There are perhaps other salutations, but these three will cover all of the "hello's" that you will need.
Valedictions
Au revoir - the universal "good bye" in a formal, non-intimate, non-specific context
Bonsoir - appears again, here though, as the universal “good bye” in the evening and works in most contexts.
Salut - like “bonsoir”, doubles for use at the greeting and parting, but again is not time-of-day specific and is strictly in a familiar, casual register.
Ciao - obviously borrowed from the Italian, it is popular as a casual valediction in French. unlike in Italian, though, it is only employed when parting company. like “salut” belongs to a casual register.
À (très) bientôt - “see you (very) soon” is used very broadly in a friendly context to indicate one’s anticipation of a future encounter (specified or not). often the “soon” can be months away. perhaps you’re longing in July for a couple of weeks at Les Basses for this coming February. you drop Rosita an email. see responds, “you’re booked, les amis”, and you exult, “excellent ! à bientôt, then”.
À plus tard - “see you later” is used very broadly in a friendly context and in a general sense. can be shortened to "à plus".
À tout à l’heure - “see you shortly” is used in anticipation of an encounter in a few minutes or up to a very few hours. perhaps you’ve just left le défilé at L’Isle de France and are thinking of dinner at L’Isola. you call en route, Fabrizio answers and says, “come on”, and you respond, “ok, à tout à l’heure”.
À demain - “see you tomorrow” in the same vein as the above examples.
À ce soir - “see you this evening”, again, in the same vein as above.
À lundi (mardi, jeudi, vendredi, etc) - “see you Monday” or (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, etc) same vein as above
À la prochaine - “see you next time” is used more as a formula for a longer parting. perhaps you’re leaving your island host at the end of a pleasant stay, and you want to intimate that there will be a “next time”, you might part saying, “à la prochaine”.
Bonne journée - the universal “have a good day” or “enjoy your day” when parting company. the full expression is “passez une bonne journée”, which carries a bit more formality. it is employed generally during the morning and up to perhaps mid-afternoon. during the mid or late afternoon one can switch for greater precision to “ bonne fin de l’après-midi”.
Bonne continuation - I’ve never been quite sure of an accurate translation for this one. not sure if we have a similar expression in English. it’s used principally by a static party addressing a departing party to convey a wish for a successful or satisfying continuation of his or her current activity.
Bonne soirée - used exactly like “bonne journée” but during the evening hours. it is employed as long as the expectation is that the evening’s activities are going to begin or continue after the parting. later on in the evening one might switch to “bonne fin de soirée” as the evening is winding down.
Bonne nuit - means “good night” in the sense of “sleep well” (the evening is over) and is used when one is going more or less directly to bed.
Bon dimanche - another one which doesn't have a likely English equivalent but which would be "have a good Sunday". it's a more common expression in French than one might expect.
Pascale is busy these days earning tons of dollars or euros or whatever and has asked me (un anglophone !) to fill in for her for a while with the Friday French lessons. She's promised to take time out of her busy schedule to correct my errors...which will inevitably occur. Merci, Madame.
I think that, as non-French speakers, the most one can aspire to in the context of conversations with native speakers on Saint-Barth (virtually all of whom speak good to very good English) is to sprinkle one's English with a few French words or short, formulaic expressions. It's a satisfying endeavor nonetheless for the non-French speaker.
At the risk of repeating some ground previously covered, we'll start at the logical beginning.
Salutations
Bonjour - the universal "hello", "good morning", "good day" during daylight hours until perhaps early evening.
Bonsoir - in the evening or very early morning hours "hello", "good evening".
Salut - “hello” used day or evening but in a strictly familiar and casual register. during the first week of my last stay I greeted my host with a, “bonjour. vous allez bien ?”. after that, due to an increased familiarity and the growing warmth of our relationship, we both switched to, “salut. ça va ?”.
There are perhaps other salutations, but these three will cover all of the "hello's" that you will need.
Valedictions
Au revoir - the universal "good bye" in a formal, non-intimate, non-specific context
Bonsoir - appears again, here though, as the universal “good bye” in the evening and works in most contexts.
Salut - like “bonsoir”, doubles for use at the greeting and parting, but again is not time-of-day specific and is strictly in a familiar, casual register.
Ciao - obviously borrowed from the Italian, it is popular as a casual valediction in French. unlike in Italian, though, it is only employed when parting company. like “salut” belongs to a casual register.
À (très) bientôt - “see you (very) soon” is used very broadly in a friendly context to indicate one’s anticipation of a future encounter (specified or not). often the “soon” can be months away. perhaps you’re longing in July for a couple of weeks at Les Basses for this coming February. you drop Rosita an email. see responds, “you’re booked, les amis”, and you exult, “excellent ! à bientôt, then”.
À plus tard - “see you later” is used very broadly in a friendly context and in a general sense. can be shortened to "à plus".
À tout à l’heure - “see you shortly” is used in anticipation of an encounter in a few minutes or up to a very few hours. perhaps you’ve just left le défilé at L’Isle de France and are thinking of dinner at L’Isola. you call en route, Fabrizio answers and says, “come on”, and you respond, “ok, à tout à l’heure”.
À demain - “see you tomorrow” in the same vein as the above examples.
À ce soir - “see you this evening”, again, in the same vein as above.
À lundi (mardi, jeudi, vendredi, etc) - “see you Monday” or (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, etc) same vein as above
À la prochaine - “see you next time” is used more as a formula for a longer parting. perhaps you’re leaving your island host at the end of a pleasant stay, and you want to intimate that there will be a “next time”, you might part saying, “à la prochaine”.
Bonne journée - the universal “have a good day” or “enjoy your day” when parting company. the full expression is “passez une bonne journée”, which carries a bit more formality. it is employed generally during the morning and up to perhaps mid-afternoon. during the mid or late afternoon one can switch for greater precision to “ bonne fin de l’après-midi”.
Bonne continuation - I’ve never been quite sure of an accurate translation for this one. not sure if we have a similar expression in English. it’s used principally by a static party addressing a departing party to convey a wish for a successful or satisfying continuation of his or her current activity.
Bonne soirée - used exactly like “bonne journée” but during the evening hours. it is employed as long as the expectation is that the evening’s activities are going to begin or continue after the parting. later on in the evening one might switch to “bonne fin de soirée” as the evening is winding down.
Bonne nuit - means “good night” in the sense of “sleep well” (the evening is over) and is used when one is going more or less directly to bed.
Bon dimanche - another one which doesn't have a likely English equivalent but which would be "have a good Sunday". it's a more common expression in French than one might expect.
