bonjour les parents
In French, 'hello parents' is translated as bonjour les parents.
While the phrase translates literally to 'hello parents', it is typically used by a teacher or an official when addressing a group of parents, rather than a child addressing their own mother and father.
Which one should you use?
If a child is greeting their own parents, they would more naturally say bonjour maman et papa rather than bonjour les parents.
Did you know?
- In some French-speaking regions, referring to your own mother and father as les parents is considered casual slang, much like saying 'the folks' in English.
- The article les in this phrase can be traced back to the Latin accusative forms illōs and illās, which were used to mean 'those' or 'those ones'.
- In a formal school setting, the phrase is often expanded to bonjour les parents d'élèves, which specifies that they are 'parents of pupils'.
Examples in context
- Salut les parents ! Comment ça va ?Hi parents! How are you doing?
- Bonjour les parents, comment allez-vous ?Hello parents, how are you?
- Bonjour les parents, bienvenue à la réunion.Hello parents, welcome to the meeting.
- Bonjour les parents, merci d'être venus.Hello parents, thank you for coming.
Example conversation
Nathan arrives at his parents' house for dinner.
- NathanBonjour les parents, je suis là !Hello parents, I'm here!
- EmmaBonjour Nathan, entre donc !Hello Nathan, come on in!
- NathanÇa sent très bon dans la cuisine.It smells very good in the kitchen.
- EmmaMerci, on a hâte que tu goûtes.Thank you, we can't wait for you to taste it.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bonjour, les, CC BY-SA 4.0.
