Which one should you use?
While salut is used for friends and informal settings, au revoir is the standard, more formal way to say goodbye. Additionally, salut can mean both 'hello' and 'goodbye', whereas other phrases like à bientôt (see you soon), à plus tard (see you later without a specific timeframe) and à tout à l'heure (see you later on the same day) are more specific about when you will meet again.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Salut is an informal term. You should avoid using it in formal situations or when speaking to superiors. For a more formal or standard goodbye, use au revoir. In very casual settings, some French speakers may also use Ciao or the trendy combination Salut, bye.
How does it change in a sentence?
Salut is an invariable interjection and does not change its form based on the number of people you are addressing.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation is /sa.ly/ and it has 2 syllables.
When do people say it?
When wishing a friend well, you might also use bonne journée or bonne soirée to wish them a good day or evening. If you are looking for the most widely recognized way to say goodbye in French, that would be au revoir.
Did you know?
- The word salut is actually a way of wishing someone 'health' or 'safety'. It shares the same linguistic root as the English word 'salvation' and the Latin 'salus', which refers to being whole or healthy.
- In religious contexts, salut takes on a much deeper meaning and is used to translate the English word 'salvation'.
- While salut is common, many young French speakers now use ciao as an informal goodbye, borrowing the term from Italian.
Examples in context
- Salut, à demain !Bye, see you tomorrow!
- Salut, passe une bonne soirée.Bye, have a good evening.
- Allez, salut tout le monde !Alright, bye everyone!
Example conversation
Manon and Lucas are leaving a cafe after meeting for coffee.
- ManonC'était super de te voir, Lucas.It was great to see you, Lucas.
- LucasOui, on se rappelle vite.Yes, let's talk again soon.
- ManonSalut, à la semaine prochaine !Bye, see you next week!
- LucasSalut, Manon !Bye, Manon!
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry salut, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries salut, CC BY-SA 4.0.
