dire au revoir à quelqu'un
To say goodbye to someone in French is to dire au revoir à quelqu'un.
The phrase is used when you are leaving someone and wish to express that you are saying goodbye.
What does it mean word for word?
The core component of this phrase is au revoir, which literally translates to 'until seeing again'. Here, au means 'to the' or 'at the' and revoir means 'seeing again'.
Which one should you use?
While dire au revoir à quelqu'un implies you will see the person again, if you wish to say a final or permanent goodbye, you would use dire adieu à quelqu'un.
How does it change in a sentence?
When using this expression with the verb dire, you must use the preposition à before the person being addressed.
Did you know?
- The word dire shares an ancient ancestor with the English word 'show', as both stem from the Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to point out'.
- In some French-speaking regions, people may say au revoir while performing a bise, which involves kissing each other on the cheeks.
- In Quebec, you might hear bon voyage used as a goodbye even if the person is only going a short distance from the speaker.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries dire, quelqu'un, revoir, à, CC BY-SA 4.0.
