à bientôt
/a bjɛ̃.to/
In French, 'see you again' is expressed as à bientôt.
à bientôt is a friendly way to say goodbye when you expect to meet the person again soon.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to 'at soon' or 'until soon'.
Which one should you use?
Use à demain instead of à bientôt if you know for certain the next meeting is the following day.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In France and Belgium, the phrase À tout à l'heure is used to mean 'see you soon' or 'see you later'.
How do you pronounce it?
/a bjɛ̃.to/
Did you know?
- In some French-speaking regions, à plus is a common shorthand for à plus tard, serving as a casual 'see ya'.
- The word bientôt is actually a combination of the words bien meaning 'well' and tôt meaning 'early'.
- French has a specific phrase à tout de suite for when you will see someone again in just a few seconds or minutes.
Examples in context
- J'espère vous revoir bientôt. À bientôt!I hope to see you again soon. See you soon!
- On se voit demain, salut!See you tomorrow, bye!
- Je vais faire quelques courses. À tout à l'heure!I'm going to run some errands. See you later!
- Merci, à bientôt.Thank you, see you again soon.
Example conversation
Léa and Lucas are leaving a coffee shop after meeting up.
- LéaC'était très sympa, Lucas.It was very nice, Lucas.
- LucasOui, à bientôt, Léa !Yes, see you again soon, Léa!
- LéaÀ bientôt !See you soon!
- LucasSalut !Bye!
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry à bientôt, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bientôt, à, CC BY-SA 4.0.
