How to say good morning in French in 33 classic ways
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If you’ve ever watched Beauty and the Beast — La Belle et la Bête — you’re probably already familiar with “Bonjour”. But do you know how to use it, when to use it, and other ways to say Good morning in French?
If you enjoyed our article on “How to say hello in French”, here’s the perfect occasion to go one step further and enhance your French greeting skills.
Learning how to say “Good morning” in French can be helpful in the following situations:
- When having an early work meeting with your French colleagues.
- When meeting with a francophone friend for a croissant and a café.
- When waking up next to your new French fling — We’ll also teach you how to say Good morning beautiful in French.
- And many more!
Beginning your French language learning journey? Download your free French language essentials eBook here.
How to say good morning in French
Êtes-vous matinal(e)? Morning person or not, here’s a first word for you: “matin”, which means “morning”. And Québécois, who tend to use anglicisms, actually say “Bon matin” for “Good morning”.
However…what about France?
Good morning vs good day in French
The Québécois way was too logical for the French — don’t get me started on numbers (our guide to French numbers here) — who decided to go for “Bonjour”, literally “Good day”.
Below are a few ways to greet somebody in the morning. As a rule of thumb, you may use “Bonjour” until about 6pm. Then, “Bonsoir” takes over.
| English | French | IPA | Context/Note |
| Morning! | Salut ! | saly ! | Informal |
| Good morning! | Bonjour ! | bõʒuɾ ! | |
| Hey! | Coucou ! | kuku ! | Informal, cute |
| Good morning, how are you? | Bonjour, comment ça va ? | bõʒuɾ, kɔmə sa va ? | |
| Have a good day! | Passez une bonne journée ! | pasez‿ ynə bɔnə ʒuɾneə ! | This is not a greeting and should be used when saying goodbye. |
| Good day to you! | Bonne journée ! | bɔnə ʒuɾneə ! | This is not a greeting and should be used when saying goodbye. |
| Good morning, nice to meet you. | Bonjour, enchanté(e) | bõʒuɾ, ɑ̃ʃɑ̃te(ɛ) | |
| Good morning everyone. | Bonjour à tous. | bõʒuɾ a tu. | |
| Good morning my friends. | Bonjour mes amis. | bõʒuɾmez‿ ami. | |
| Good morning, looks like you had a good night sleep! | Bonjour, tu as l’air d’avoir passé une bonne nuit ! | bõʒuɾ, ty a lɛɾ davwaɾ pase ynə bɔnə nɥi ! | Informal |
| Good morning, you seem to be in a good mood! | Bonjour, tu as l’air d’être de bonne humeur ! | bõʒuɾ, ty a lɛɾ dɛtɾə də bɔnə ymœɾ ! | Informal |
| Good morning, did you get up on the wrong foot? | Bonjour, tu t’es levé(e) du pied gauche ? | bõʒuɾ, ty tɛ ləve(ɛ) dy pje goʃə ? | Informal |
| Good morning, would you like a coffee? | Bonjour, voulez-vous un café ? | bõʒuɾ, vule-vuz‿ œ̃ kafe ? | |
| Good morning, children. | Bonjour les enfants ! | bõʒuɾlez‿ ɑ̃fɑ̃ ! | |
| Good morning, François. | Bonjour François. | bõʒuɾ fɾanswa. |
Good morning in French using titles for a man or woman
When greeting someone in a formal context, it can be useful to know how to say “Good morning” in French to a woman, and “Good morning” in French to a man. And if you’re unsure of the gender… you might want to stick to “Bonjour”!
If you’re meeting someone for the first time, you might want to say your name too.
| English | French | IPA |
| Good morning, madam. | Bonjour Madame. | bõʒuɾ madamə. |
| Good morning, miss. | Bonjour Mademoiselle. | bõʒuɾ madəmwazɛlə. |
| Good morning, sir. | Bonjour Monsieur. | bõʒuɾməsjø. |
Romantic good morning in French
Aaahhh French. For many, the language of love. After all, is there anything more romantic than a warm croissant with a café in bed? Learn to say Good morning my love in French and other sweet morning greetings in the table below.
A word of advice: If your French fling or love interest is kind enough to get you this, hold on to them!
| English | French | IPA | Context/Note |
| Good morning, my love. | Bonjour mon amour. | bõʒuɾ mõn‿ amuɾ. | |
| Good morning, beautiful. | Bonjour ma belle. | bõʒuɾ ma bɛlə. | For ladies only. |
| Good morning, handsome. | Bonjour mon beau. | bõʒuɾ mõ bo. | Not widely used in French. We basically don’t compliment a man’s physique! |
| Good morning, I made you some coffee. | Bonjour, je t’ai fait un café. | bõʒuɾ, ʒə te fɛt‿ œ̃ kafe. | More drinks in French here. |
| Good morning, I made breakfast. | Bonjour, j’ai préparé le petit-déjeuner. | bõʒuɾ, ʒe pɾepaɾe lə pəti-deʒœne. | |
| You look so beautiful this morning. | Tu es si belle ce matin. | tyɛ si bɛlə sə matɛ̃. | For ladies only. |
| Good morning, darling. | Bonjour ma chérie/mon chéri. | bõʒuɾ ma ʃeɾjɛ/mõ ʃeɾi. | |
| Good morning, love of my life. | Bonjour, amour de ma vie. | bõʒuɾ, amuɾ də ma vjə. | Save this one only if he/she went to get you a croissant! And check out more ways to say I love you in French. |
| Hey, you | Salut toi. | saly twa. |
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Other morning greetings in French
If “bonjour” is too plain or too short for you, here are a few other greetings to spice up your morning game.
| English | French | IPA | Context/note |
| Rise and shine! | C’est l’heure de se lever ! | kɛ lœɾə də sə ləve ! | |
| Get up! | Debout ! / Lève-toi ! | dəbu ! / lɛvə-twa ! | Informal, usually for children or partners. |
| Did you sleep well? | Vous avez bien dormi ? / Tu as bien dormi ? | vuz‿ ave bjɛ̃ dɔɾmi ? / ty a bjɛ̃ dɔɾmi ? | |
| It’s a beautiful day! | Quelle belle journée ! | kɛlə bɛlə ʒuɾneə ! | |
| The sun is shining this morning! | Il fait grand soleil ce matin ! | il fe gɾɑ̃ sɔlɛj sə matɛ̃ ! | More French weather words and expressions here. |
| It snowed last night. | Il a neigé cette nuit. | il a n(e)ʒe sɛtə nɥi. |
Good morning in French song
I still remember the first song I learned in English class: “Good morning, good morning, good morning, and how are you this morning, good morning, good morning…”
27 years and a lifelong earworm later, my point is that music is one of the most efficient tools to learn a language.
So here is a selection of French songs to wish you a good day in French!
- Il est cinq heures Paris s’éveille, Jacques Dutronc
- Bonjour, Anne Sylvestre (for the little, and not so little ones)
- Bonjour, Rachid Taha
- Bonjour, La Belle et la Bête.
la belle et la bête : Bonjour
French idioms with morning
L’avenir appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt.
- Literal translation: The future belongs to those who wake up early.
- Meaning: The early bird catches the worm.
Simple comme bonjour.
- Literal translation: Simple as good morning.
- Meaning: Very easy.
Voir sous un nouveau jour.
- Literal translation: To see under a new day.
- Meaning: To see in a new light.
Passer le bonjour.
- Literal translation: To pass the good morning.
- Meaning: To say hi for someone.
If someone greets you with one of the expressions above, you’ll probably want to be polite and answer. Well, that’s entirely up to you but strongly recommended!
The response to “good morning” in French is — drumrolls — “Bonjour”. You may also throw a “How are you” in there.
Also, if you find yourself in the awkward “bise” moment, check out our tips to know how to react. It’s so complex that a Brit even created a website about the proper number of “bises” by French region!
On that note, there’s no better ending to an article on “bonjour” than “au revoir”!
