“Bonjour” is pronounced, “bohn-zhoor. " The “zh” sound is pronounced like the “ge” in “deluge. " The “n” is delicate, almost silent. The “r” is also delicate and pronounced with friction (like a gargling sound) in your throat. The “bon” in “Bonjour” means “good,” and “jour” means “day. ” Put together into one word, it means “Good day. ”
“Salut” is pronounced, “Sah-loo. ” The “loo” uses a subtle sound uncommon in English; it sounds like “liu” with a very soft ee sound at the beginning.
“Bon matin” is pronounced “bohn mah-ten. ” “Bon” is pronounced like the beginning of Bonjour, while the “tin” in matin has a soft, subtle “n” sound that is almost silent.
“Bonsoir” is pronounced “Bohn-swahr. ” Like the end of Bonjour, the “r” is soft and pronounced with a gargling sound in your throat. “Bonne nuit” is pronounced, “Bun nwee. ” “Bonne” has more of a heavy “u” sound than “Bon. "
An informal way to say, “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” is “C’est un plaisir de faire votre reconnaissance” (pronounced, “Set uhn play-zheer duh fayr vot-ruh re-ko-nay-sans”). The formal version of this phrase is “C’est un plaisir de vous rencontrer” (pronounced, “Set uhn play-zheer duh voo ran-con-tray”). It means, “It is a pleasure to meet you. ” “Enchanté de faire votre connaissance” is pronounced, “An-shan-tay duh fayr vot-ruh con-nay-sahnse. ”
“Je m’appelle” is pronounced, “Zhuh mah-pell. ” Again, the “Je” here (or the “zhuh” sound) is pronounced like the “ge” in “deluge. " For example, a full introduction could be, “Bonjour! Je m’appelle David. ” In that case, you’d be saying, “Good day! My name is David. ” Tell someone if you have a preferred name. Say “Je m’appelle Alexandra, mais je me fais appeler Alex” (“Zhuh mah-pell Alexandra, may zhuh muh fay ah-pel-ay Alex. ”) It means, “My name is Alexandra, but I prefer to be called Alex. ”
“Je suis” is pronounced, “Zhuh swee. ” In a full sentence, you could say, “Bonsoir! Je suis Alex,” to introduce yourself.
Finish the phrase by saying your name after “Moi c’est. " In a full sentence, you could say, “Moi c’est Candice. ” “Moi c’est” is pronounced, “Mwah say. ” The phrase “c’est” can sound different depending on the context, which is why it sounds like “say” here, but “set” in C’est un plaisir de vous rencontrer.
For example, you could say, “Bonjour, je me présente. Je m’appelle Karin,” which means, “Hello, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Karin. ” “Je me présente” is pronounced, “Zhuh muh pray-zant. ”
“(Name) à l’appareil” is pronounced, “ah lah-par-ay. ” Like other words with an “r” sound, this “r” is delicate and pronounced with friction in your throat. When answering the phone in French, you can also begin with the greeting “Allô?” (Ah-low?) It means “Hello,” and it’s only used by French speakers over the phone.
“J’habite à” is pronounced “Zhah-beet ah. ” Finish the phrase by naming your town or even country of origin. For example, “J’habite à New York!” means “I live in New York!”
For example, you could say, “Je suis docteur,” which means, “I am a doctor,” or “Je suis artiste,” which means, “I am an artist. ” If you’re in school (rather than working), talk about your main area of study by saying “J’étudie” (Zhey-too-dee), which means, “I study. ” For example, “J’étudie l’écriture créative” means, “I study creative writing. ”
“J’ai (number) ans” is pronounced, “Zheh (number) ahn. ” The final n is delicate and almost silent.
“Je vous présente…” (Zhuh voo preh-zont) means “I present to you…” Say the other person’s name after this introductory phrase. “Voici…” (Vwuh-see…) means “Here is…” This is a more informal way to introduce someone. Like the first phrase, say the other person’s name after saying Voici.
“Comment vous appelez-vous?” (“Co-mahnt vooz ah-play-voo?”) means “What is your name?” “D’où êtes-vous?” (“Doo eht-voo?”) means “Where are you from?” “Quel est votre profession?” (Kell ay vote-ruh pro-fess-yone?) means “What do you do for a living?” “Comment allez-vous?” (Co-mahnt ah-lay-voo?) means “How are you?”
